Tsunami survivors suffered post traumatic stress disorde
Many people in tsunami-affected areas of Thailand suffered from depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) for at least nine months after the disaster, according to two new studies.
Both were conducted initially in February 2005, with follow-ups seven months later, focusing on people in Phang Nga, Krabi and Phuket, the three provinces worst hit by the tsunami. The results were published in the August 2 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. In one survey, PTSD symptoms were found in February 2005 in 12 per cent of those surveyed in Phang Nga who had lost their homes and suffered other losses, and 7 per cent of those who had not lost their homes. The figure for Krabi and Phuket, where only people who had not been displaced were surveyed, was considerably lower, at 3 per cent. Anxiety symptoms were more prevalent in Phang Nga, with 37 per cent of displaced people and 30 per cent of non-displaced people suffering anxiety, compared with 22 per cent in Krabi and Phuket. Similarly, 30 per cent of displaced and 21 per cent of non-displaced people in Phang Nga had symptoms of depression, compared with 10 per cent in the two other provinces. Aggravating the PTSD, anxiety and depression was the loss of the ability to make a living, the study found. The follow-up survey found a fall in all three mental problems, though the rates were still higher than normally found in the population at large. The second study addressed depression and PTSD among children in the three provinces. In February 2005, PTSD symptoms were noted in 13 per cent of children living in camps for the displaced, in 11 per cent of children from tsunami-affected villages who had not lost their homes, and in 6 per cent of children from villages not affected by the tsunami. The survey found that children most likely to be suffering from PTSD fell into three broad groups: those who had spent some time in disaster zones before being evacuated; those who felt that their own life or those of family members had been in serious danger; and those who had experienced extreme panic or fear. Depression was found to be more prevalent among older children who felt that their own or a family member's life had been in danger. Disturbingly, a follow-up survey in September 2005 found no significant fall in the percentage of children suffering from either PTSD or depression.
Phuket Gazette PHUKET
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