Sense of kinship will help heal wounds

Sense of kinship will help heal wounds
RAJIV SHARMA

FEBRUARY 2: She lost seven members of her family in the earthquake. Yet when she came across an orphaned child wandering among the ruins of Bhuj, she reached out and took on the responsibility of taking care of its needs. She adopted the child even as she was struggling to come to terms with her loss.

Dr Shubhangi Parkar, Head of Psychiatry department, KEM Hospital, who witnessed the incident was struck by the enormous sense of kinship that prevails in a small town like Bhuj, and how such gestures go a long way in nursing wounded psyches back to normal.

``People there have a larger concept of a family, and helping other survivors is like taking care of their own relatives who did not survive the disaster,'' she pointed out.

Without waiting for any appeal these survivors had no hesitation in coming out on the streets and going about rescue works.

Such spontaneous reactions create natural bonds between people and lessens the stress they are likely to face.

Help, she says, should be provided to the affected in a manner in which their self-respect is not hurt.

Despite these gestures the survivors from Bhuj still need to be counselled since many of them, specially the elderly ones, have lost their orientation, Dr Parkar explained. Even children who have been injured in the earthquake are quite traumatised and do not seem to feel the physical pain, when normally even a small cut has them screaming, she explained.

``Survivors can become numb and so passive they do not even ask for water and food, and have to be reminded each time,'' she observed.

Dr Parkar further suggested that the rehabilitation programme should take into account the fact that the affected persons will want to stay in the same neighbourhood. ``This is important because the idea of being together during the rebuilding process will help them a lot,'' she felt.

On its part, the Bombay Psychiatric Society decided in a meeting today that they would go to Bhuj and counsel the quake affected persons for a period of one week. Further, they would also get in touch with the local non-government organisations so that they can network in the affected area.Psychiatrists present at the meeting agreed that mental health workers should be front line disaster workers instead of coming in later, and help the patients to recover from their physical and mental trauma.

According to Dr Yusuf Matcheswala, a member of the society and honorary professor of psychiatry, JJ Hospital, it will take efforts from all agencies to help the quake affected persons to come back to normal. The Red Crescent Society of India is organsing medical and paramedical staff to be sent to Bhuj, and they would also help in sending psychiatrists to that area, he said.