June 26, 2006	Monday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 29, 1427

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PESHAWAR, June 25: Mental health experts attending a workshop here warned on Sunday that emotional effects of the October 8 earthquake can prove more fatal than its physical effects and urged the government and NGOs to come forward and take concrete steps to provide psycho-social support to the affected people.

They were of the view that even after the passing of eight months, the locals revealed symptoms of lasting depression, pervasive anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and other emotional disturbances. The two-day workshop was organised by the International Medical Corps (IMC), an international humanitarian organisation.

Facilitators, including IMC international mental health expert Dr Boris Budosan and local psychiatrists Dr Khalid Mufti and Dr Saeed Farooq, trained 27 general practitioners working in the quake-affected district Mansehra in the two-day workshop, funded by AusAid.

The doctors were engaged in an interactive debate on psychological consequences of the October 8 disaster.

In his presentation on psychological trauma, Dr Boris Budosan said there were several ways to help people with distress related to the trauma. He said that survivors who have not shared their stories with other people were usually more distressed, and recovered more slowly.

“A traumatic event can also change a person’s view and perspective about oneself, about other people, and about the world in general,” he added.

Dr Boris recounted that there were in excess of 4 million people who had been affected by the earthquake in one way or another.

Reports indicate that more than 50 per cent people in the quake-torn region are suffering from a variety of psychological problems, but most often this aspect of the tragedy is ignored by the people.

Dr Khalid Mufti said that fear, anxiety and depression hidden in the minds and hearts of people may badly affect their life and the whole society at large.

Dr Saeed Farooq observed that unfortunately we had not learnt any lesson from the 25-year war and instability in Afghanistan. The trauma of war is demonstrating itself in the shape of violence, anger and confusion.

“It is high time for the government, the UN and NGOs to provide psycho-social support to the affected people and train them in coping with the trauma, psychological disorder and emotional pain,” he advised.

Jehangir Ali Khan, country director, IMC, Pakistan, said that since 1984 IMC had been dedicated to saving lives and relieving suffering through health care, training and medical relief programmes.

“The IMC is one of those few organisations which along with providing primary health care, also focused on the mental health and psychosocial support for the earthquake-affected communities. We want to develop local capacities in this area. After training health practitioners, interventions will also focus on training local communities at the grassroots levels,” Jehangir Ali Khan concluded.