"His family members died and he has also lost his house. He doesn't see any reason to remain alive," Dr Saroj Ojha, Chief at the Psychiatric Department at the TUTH, said. "He has reactive depressive symptoms. He needs to be hospitalized immediately."
Likewise, parents of Anjali Magar of Goldhunga, Kathmandu, are still living in a makeshift tent while many others returned home within a week of the earthquake on 25 April. It's not because their house was marked "unsafe", but because their daughter started showing signs of "acute stress reaction". Her mother says Anjali panics for no reason and starts running out of the room even in the middle of the night."Due to her situation we have not been able to leave this tent. Moreover, after another major quake on Tuesday, we all are really scared," the mother added.
A case of "adjustment disorder" was also noticed in a woman in Nuwakot who suddenly ran away from her house last week and has not returned yet. The middle aged woman was heard shouting "run, run, earthquake! earthquake!" And that day, she had left home in the middle of the night.
Dr Ojha said that the cases cited above are not uncommon during such disasters. Overcoming mental disturbance is equally challenging. "Recurring tremors have made matters worse for people. Three of my own fellow doctors have visited the hospital's emergency ward and conducted ECG to check out whether they got heart attack. They are consulting psychologists," informed Dr Ojha.
He said the main threat is the prolonged fear that the tremors have created in people's mind. "If the fear lasts for a long time, it would be seriously problematic. So, such people need urgent attention," Dr Ojha stressed.
Meanwhile, Dr Surendra Serchan, Director at the Nepal Mental Hospital stated that fear is normal while people are in a grieving phase. "It is very normal to show fear in an abnormal situation. In such a condition, we should keep ourselves and our children busy as far as possible."
According to Dr Serchan, while about 20 to 30 percent people might need counseling after such a disaster, some of them may even need medication.
"Women, children, elderly and family members of those, who have lost their kin, are likely to develop lasting psychological disorders," he said.
Targeting the risk-groups, the ministry of Health and Population (MoHP) has formed a special task force to deal with the situation.
Stating that news and views of the media plays vital role in shaping people's mind, Dr Guna Raj Lohani, spokesperson at the ministry, has requested media to disseminate only positive messages to the public in order to boost their self-confidence. He informed that the country has enough counselors and psychiatrics to deal with the problem. He said the government has also been organizing mental health camps in earthquake hit districts.
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