CUTTACK: People in the coastal districts that were ravaged in the Super Cyclone of 1999 are revisiting the trauma due to the devastating floods this year. The disaster would inevitably lead to a spurt in mental health problems in the population of the affected parts necessitating sprucing up of health infrastructure and services to deal with the evolving situation. According to experts, the problems would be acutely manifested in Kendrapara, Jagatsinghpur, Cuttack, Jajpur and Puri districts that were worst hit in 1999. As psychological disorders take quite some time to heal, the fear of relapses under similar disaster situation is looming large. The psychological impact of the Super Cyclone on the population had been particularly severe with 80.4 per cent of the people showing symptoms of psychiatric stress of some degree or the other. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) was found in over 44 per cent while over 52 per cent suffered from acute depression and 57.5 per cent of people suffered from anxiety. Disasters with loss of life and livelihood induce high stress and anxiety among the people. The floods have inflicted huge sufferings on the people if not on the gigantic scale of the cyclone. But leaving homes to take shelter in other places for days together, loss of valuables, damage to crops, loss of livelihood, unemployment, starvation and such factors would subject the people to severe trauma. “Thus, we anticipate a surge in people suffering from PTSD or other psychiatric disorders in the post-flood scenario. Right now, the people are combating the floods and fighting to stay alive. As the damage and destruction on individual basis dawns, the repercussions would be visible”, Head of the Mental Health Institute of SCB Medical Prof Nilamadhab Kar observed.
Comments
0 comment