Kerala floods: ‘Salvage mental health from depths of despair’

Kerala floods: ‘Salvage mental health from depths of despair’
After the current floods, our team from IMA and Pushpagiri had examined more than 200 persons in Tiruvalla, Chengannur area to provide them with medical and psychological support.
Published: 25th August 2018 06:33 AM by the leading English daily, ‘The New Indian Express’.
Express News Service
Kerala has just been victim of the worst floods in a century. Nearly 400 people have died and about 1.2 million people had to be shifted to make shift relief homes. The devastating scale of destruction to houses, buildings, roads and infrastructure is almost unimaginable. The number of fatalities could be reduced considerably due to the outstanding services of our Armed Forces, Police, Coast Guards and, above all, the traditional fishermen. Our hats off to them! Voluntary organisations and civil society in Kerala have responded to the tragedy in an exemplary manner.
The important aspect which often gets neglected in disasters is the mental health component. The emotional component can vary from mild distress to severe emotional breakdown. According to WHO 20-40 pc of people afflicted by disasters are likely to develop mild psychological distress while 30-50 may develop moderate to severe psychological distress.
A minority may develop new and debilitating mental disorders. Timely provision of mental health services will considerably reduce the impact of this distress. Fear, anxiety, sadness or shock are normal after disasters. If these symptoms continue for weeks or months in anyone, it indicates an emotional disorder which need urgent attention. Disasters lead to displacement from homes, losing jobs and valuable possessions and economic uncertainties. This often leads to hopelessness, despair and depression. If unattended this may lead to even suicidal thinking.
After the current floods, our team from IMA and Pushpagiri had examined more than 200 persons in Tiruvalla, Chengannur area to provide them with medical and psychological support. Some among them expressed their wish to die as this setback seems insurmountable to them (reports of suicides have already come from some parts of the state).   Each medical team should have a psychiatrist who can identify such problems at the earliest and provide treatment.  Disaster management from a mental health perspective involves the practice of ‘Preventive Medicine’.  We often speak of six Rs in this – Readiness (to face disasters), Response (which should be immediate), Relief (from immediate difficulties), Rehabilitation (of those affected), Recovery (helping people get back to their normal lives) and Resilience (fostering the ability to bounce back after unforeseen calamities). These principles are very helpful.
The common mental health problems encountered in disasters are anxiety, depression and acute stress reaction. The manifestation often depends on the individual’s vulnerability and coping skills. In acute stress reaction, the person may be in a dazed or numbed state but it often subsides within hours or a few days.
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) has attracted lot of research. It is a delayed and/or protracted response to exceptional or catastrophic stress. Kerala Floods 2018 is one such stress. PTSD usually manifests only weeks or months after the trauma.
Those affected develop a sense of detachment, numbness and often ‘flashbacks’ (repeated reliving of the trauma in intrusive memories). PTSD can have serious consequences, including suicide, and should be attended to by mental health experts.
The World Psychiatric Association has a section on disaster psychiatry which has prepared a mental health guide on ‘Prepared and intervention in disasters. This is available on our website www.wpanet.org  Finally, ours should be a collaborative effort of everyone – schools, colleges, social activists, NGOs, religious and political leaders, media and all!
Roy Abraham Kallivayalil is secretary-general, World Psychiatric Association, professor & head, Dept of Psychiatry, Pushpagiri Institute of Medical Sciences, Tiruvalla.
(The views expressed by the author are his own)

Related posts

16 November 2021

VI All-Russian online Conference «MENTAL HEALTH: MODERN TRENDS & PROSPECTS»

The Union for Mental Health (Moscow) in cooperation with the Far Eastern State Medical University of the Ministry of Health...

12 February 2018

Bio Management Education in the Moscow State University

  The Moscow State University Psychological Faculty has being successfully implementing the educational program "Practical Psychophysiology" where the future therapists...

9 May 2018

С Днём Победы!

12 October 2021

CHILDREN, SOCIETY AND THE FUTURE III Congress on Mental Health: Meeting the Needs of the XXI Century

The III Congress on Mental Health: Meeting the Needs of the XXI Century was held, online, on 8-9 October 2021 in Moscow...

29 January 2018

MENTAL HEALTH AND EDUCATION. MENTAL HEALTH EXPERTS COMMENT ON TOPICAL ISSUES. DONALD NEMETH, PH.D.

    Dr. Donald Nemeth, Ph.D.   "Environmental challenges can be especially taxing on people’s mental health and well-being. Few...

10 October 2017

WORLD MENTAL HEALTH DAY

World Mental Health Day first celebrated in 1992 at the initiative of the World Federation for Mental Health (WFMH) is annually held...

20 May 2021

Advances on Person-centered Psychiatry and Medicine

Juan E. Mezzich, Secretary General of the International College of Person Centered Medicine (ICPCM), Tenured Professor of Psychiatry at Icahn...

25 June 2018

ICD-11: Classifying disease to map the way we live and die

This week WHO released a new version of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11). The ICD is the bedrock for health...

5 December 2018

II Congress on Mental Health in the WASP News' (December, 2018)

II Congress on Mental Health. Meeting the needs of the XXI century. Moscow, Russian Federation, 5-7 October 2018. The underlying...

29 January 2015

The National «Healthy generation» contest for programs promoting mental health amongst children & youth in Russia

The Union for Mental Health sees the children’s mental health as the benchmark of the nation’s health, its intellectual and...