Mental Anguish Causing Physical Pain
08/31/2010
In the aftermath of the floods, International Medical Corps is assisting some of the 20 million affected
Aug 31 Mental Anguish Causing Physical Pain
Aug 19 We are Treating Up To 800 Patients a Day
Aug 11 Addressing Critical Psychosocial Needs of Displaced
How International Medical Corps is Helping
Aug. 31
Mental Anguish Causing Physical Pain
Akora Khattak, Pakistan - As International Medical Corps makes mental health care a priority in our emergency relief efforts, we are providing psychosocial services to help Pakistanis cope with the enormous emotional toll of the floods. In addition to providing individual and group support sessions through our mobile clinics, we also deployed a female psychologist to deliver specialized care to women and children.
"We have been witnessing behavioral changes, particularly in women," said Dr. Sanam Rahim, a female psychologist working at our clinic in the civil hospital in Akora Khattak, about 9 miles east of Nowshera. "The majority have psychosomatic symptoms and increasingly complain of body aches and other illnesses." Dr. Rahim is able to provide culturally-sensitive care to Pakistani women who feel more comfortable consulting with a female doctor.
Having already had extensive experience working with the internally displaced people in violence-torn Buner District, Dr. Rahim notes that the worst natural calamity in recent history has caused severe mental stress and psychological reactions among flood-affected people. She spoke of 45-year-old Roshmeena who complained of having body aches, but after clinical examination and psychosocial counseling was found not to be physically ill. A resident of Akora Khattak village, Rashmeena has 10 children and an unemployed husband. Already struggling financially, the floods washed away the family's home and all of their belongings, leaving them without even the most basic resources. "Mental stress and anxiety can convert to psychosomatic disorder," Dr. Rahim explained. "We want to see Roshmeena for regular follow-up visits and advised her to do muscle relaxant exercises."
Like Roshmeena, others in Pakistan also complain of body aches and other illnesses, which are actually symptoms of psychological distress, according to specialists. Dr. Rahim recalled seeing a 10-year-old boy complaining of severe hiccups. His mother explained that he had feigned hiccups since the floods struck their village.
"Such psychological illnesses are growing among the flood victims," Dr. Rahim said, noting that counseling of the child revealed that children in the area had lost all recreational facilities to the floods. "The schools are closed and the lack of recreational activities often leads to mental complications among the children."
Comparing the displacement of people from Buner district to the devastation and displacement caused by the recent floods, Dr. Rahim notes that a natural disaster often leaves deeper after-effects on local populations because it is so unexpected and sudden that victims have no chance to prepare emotionally. "In Buner and Swat, people knew beforehand that a conflict was brewing in the area. In a sense, they were mentally prepared to leave their houses. But, with the floods, there was no warning. People were caught unaware and they could not even find time to rescue their most valuable items."
Through International Medical Corps' mobile clinics in Pakistan, patients suffering from emotional stress are identified during clinical check-ups and referred for further psychosocial counseling.
"When stress converts to depression, it becomes a long-term process to cure," Dr. Rahim says. "Early psychosocial counseling helps lower the stress and prevent the conversion into acute post-traumatic stress disorders."
To date, International Medical Corps' psychosocial support staff has conducted individual and group sessions for approximately 920 individuals, including young children.
- Mahmood Iqbal
Aug. 19
We are Treating Up To 800 Patients a Day
The latest government figures indicate:
* 1,400+ fatalities
* 1.5 million forced to flee their homes
* 20 million affected
* Displaced people are struggling to acquire basic resources and medical care with the threat of waterborne disease looming
Immediately following the onset of flooding, International Medical Corps mobilized local staff to operate six mobile medical units serving the hardest hit areas. We have been treating as many as 800 patients a day, in addition to providing psychosocial support - an often neglected area in the midst of a catastrophic emergency such as this. But resources and funding are woefully inadequate and our teams are struggling to meet the immediate needs - much less prevent the risk of future outbreaks.
Along with massive shortages of food, clean water and shelter, water-borne diseases like acute respiratory infections and diarrhea are on the rise. In some areas the health-care infrastructure has been completely washed away. The situation in all likelihood will worsen. The rains are expected to continue and supply routes for delivering relief are already treacherous. Compounding the physical toll this disaster has taken on Pakistanis is the immense psychological toll - many of those affected, particularly in the Swat Valley, had already been displaced by conflict in the region over the past year.
At a school in Peshawar, where International Medical Corps set up an emergency clinic, thousands of terrified Pakistanis took refuge from the floodwaters. An 8-year-old boy told doctors of watching his mother drown before his eyes. One man described how floodwaters engulfed his home, causing it to collapse on him, trapping him for days without food or water. He was rescued by the Pakistani army and reunited with his family at the school - except for his son, who had drowned. International Medical Corps is providing individual and group psychosocial support sessions to those devastated by the floods.
By International Medical Corps Staff.
Aug. 11
Addressing Critical Psychosocial Needs of Pakistan's Displaced
International Medical Corps is providing medical services along with psychosocial support to help people whose lives have been devastated by the floods in Pakistan, where it has been operating since 1984, providing primary health care services and water/sanitation facilities to displaced Pakistanis and Afghan refugees in the frontier areas.
Heavy monsoon rains in the last week of July triggered flash floods in several parts of Pakistan resulting in widespread destruction and displacement. An estimated 1,500 have lost their lives and more than 1.5 million have been displaced, with over 14 million affected. International Medical Corps immediately deployed mobile medical teams in the most severely affected Charsadda, Peshawar and Nowshehra Districts to provide emergency services. In addition to medical care to address basic health needs, teams are working to strengthen local coping mechanisms.
In Charsadda, we met Abid, a 14-year-old boy, who saw his grandmother drown during the floods and is now experiencing grief. "I cannot forget that moment, I am constantly getting flashbacks and even in dreams I see water going up and I wake up screaming," said Abid. "I am happy that I am safe but I am also sad that my home and school were destroyed". Local staff members are trained in psychological first aid and are able to provide access to basic services and support to those experiencing normal reactions to disasters - fear, anger, grief and a range of other emotions - and to address each case with sensitivity.
In a school in Peshawar - where more than 2,100 individuals have taken refuge - we met with a mother of five who recalled what her family had endured during the floods. "When the floodwater entered our house, we were all in a panic. Manahil [her 4-year-old daughter] saw my elder daughter Amina being swept away by the floodwater. She was saved and pulled out of the water, but since then, she is afraid of the water when I am bathing her and gets very restless when she is alone". We are now helping the woman care for Manahil and Amina by teaching her basic relaxation techniques to reduce anxiety.
International Medical Corps makes mental health care a priority in our emergency relief efforts by addressing the immediate psychosocial needs of communities struck by disaster and offering help to those with pre-existing mental health disorders. Our teams in Pakistan are comprised of local, trained staff members who can communicate in the local language and understand the cultural context of the situation.
Bakhtiar Ahmed works for International Medical Corps in Pakistan.
How International Medical Corps is Helping
Immediately following the onset of flooding, International Medical Corps mobilized local staff to operate 9 mobile medical units serving the hardest hit areas. The organization has provided approximately 7,000 health consultations to date and distributed 11,000 hygiene kits. As International Medical Corps makes mental health care a priority in its emergency relief efforts, it has also deployed psychologists to provide psychosocial support including teaching local coping mechanisms to help those whose lives have been devastated by the floods. Visit International Medical Corps to learn more.
Our team is engaged in the Pakistan response and have activated the Epidemic Advisory System-Pakistan [http://tinyurl.com/2bu3np8]. If you are involved in the Pakistan response effort and wish to be involved in operational communications related to infectious disease forecasting and early warning, please send me a note at (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Our team activated the first comprehensive infectious disease forecasting center in the world for Haiti following the 2010 earthquake and provided warning of the Mexico crisis (later recognized to be the epicentre of the 2009 H1N1 pandemic) to CDC and WHO.
Cheers,
Jim Wilson, MD
Executive Director
Praecipio International
— James Wilson, MD on 2010-08-23
Hi,
I’m a physician/prof. at USC in CA. I’m thinking of volunteering in Pakistan or Ethiopia….or any place where medical care is most needed. I’ve had some experience in Nepal and Tanzania in the past.
I’d appreciate hearing from you.
Jeffrey Erickson, MD
— Jeffrey Erickson on 2010-08-30