Tamil Nadu - Coimbatore   

Psychological therapy for victims

By A. A. Michael Raj

COIMBATORE, JAN. 13. Psychological therapy that involves reassurance and relaxation will enable the victims of the tsunami devastation to recover from the shock and trauma that they have suffered, said the Head of the Department of Psychology, Government Arts College, T. Srinivasan.

He told The Hindu that civilians exposed to plane crashes, explosions, fires, earthquakes, tornadoes and other terrifying experiences often suffered "slow shock reactions," which psychologists called "transient personality decompensation".

Psychologists referred to emotional disorders that occurred after devastating events as "post traumatic stress disorders" or PTSD for short.

Unlikely to be violent

"It is unlikely that the tsunami victims would become violent and commit murders. Instead, some of them could go into depression. Such cases need to be identified and helped," Prof. Srinivasan said.

Some of the fishing families that had always lived by the sea enjoyed a good standard of living, and it was misleading to assume that all of them were steeped in poverty.

"There were families that were well-to-do, and had all kinds of electronic gadgets in their homes, including cellular phones.

A fishing boat costs Rs. 1 lakh, a net about Rs. 80,000 and some of the more expensive nets cost as much as Rs. 1.25 lakhs."

Gift refusal

He narrated how relief workers, who had tried to distribute blankets to these people who had lost everything, had been faced by a refusal to accept the gifts.

Victims had moved away after stating that they had lived independent lives and achieved status in society, and did not want to depend on the munificence of others.

By allowing the victims to talk repetitively about their harrowing experiences and live through the event again in their minds would help the victims to unburden themselves and gradually recover.

"Vivid sensory images of the experience which are stored in memory may after some time lose their intensity and motive force.

Generally, the more stable and better integrated the personality, the quicker will be the recovery from the psychological shock following the traumatic event," he explained.

`Permanent solution'

Prof. Srinivasan noted that counselling psychologists considered effective counselling a "permanent solution" not only for stress disorders, but also for all human problems.

It helped the victims gain insight into their problems following the misfortune.

Group counselling enabled the participants to regain their confidence.

Realising potential

Counselling aimed at facilitating the victims to understand and accept themselves as they were and begin working towards realising their potential.

"It helps the victims attain self-realisation and become fully functioning, self-actualising persons," he said.

Post-traumatic stress disorder had a long history.

It adversely affected people after the Great Fire of London in 1666, the Coconut Grove Nightclub fire in Boston (1942), commuter train collision in Chicago (1972), and the heavy bombing and napalm attack during the Vietnam War (1950 - 75).

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