Dying Everyday

Sugata Srinivasaraju, S. Anand, Shobita Dhar, Saumya Roy, Smita Mitra, Soma Wadhwa January 17, 2005 00:00 IST Dying Everyday -0001-11-30T00:00:00+05:53

For the lakhs of people who faced the shock and horror of the earthquake and tsunami, but survived, the hard times may only be beginning. Catastrophes always strain one’s capacity to absorb shock, and a disaster of this stupendous scale can bring about unimaginable and lasting psychological trauma.

It’s normal to be terrified by such events. But for many, the reactions are far worse. Says Amit Sen, psychiatrist at Delhi’s Sitaram Bhartia hospital, "Shock, panic, bafflement are the first outcomes. Then either numbness or agitation takes over, followed by post-traumatic stress symptoms like nightmares, flashbacks, panic attacks, maybe blocking out the incident, insomnia, and finally depression."

The latter symptoms can last for years, and it’s easy to see why they can utterly destroy a person’s life, damaging self-esteem, creating behavioural problems and compromising effectiveness at work. Vijay Chandra, WHO’s Southeast Asia regional advisor for mental health, explains: "If untreated, people perform at a lower level, while their society tends to become less...