The businessman, who incurred heavy financial losses in the magnitude 7.8 earthquake last April, complained that the prolonged economic blockade imposed by India on Nepal has now left him with nowhere else to turn. He told Dr Ojha how he has suffered hugely from the blockade, as goods worth billions that he imported remain stuck in Calcutta port, and he has to fork out the mounting demurrage charge.
"Friends and relatives have started to ask for the money he borrowed from them," Dr Ojha said, adding, "But he is in no position to pay them." Given his losses, his debts and his worries, he feels hounded by suicidal urges.
The family of a seventh grader at an English-medium school at Basundhara moved to Bhaktapur after the girl fainted upon returning to her school. The girl, who lived near the school, had seen the devastation that the monster quake wrecked on the school. The family became worried after she started rambling about the futility of life. They had already taken her to the Psychiatric Department at TUTH for treatment.
"The family has been compelled to move to Bhaktapur but the girl's condition is now OK," Dr Ojha said.
The aforementioned are just two random examples of people in Nepal left traumatized by a second blow following hard upon the first. Thousands have suffered psychologically from the devastating quake, in which 8,702 people were killed and over 22,000 injured. Likewise, people across the country have felt the full force of the economic blockade slapped by India.
"We can only guess at the number of people traumatized by the earthquake and the blockade, as going for psychological counseling is not the norm here," said Dr Ojha. "But those in government seem little moved by the psychological trauma of the public at large," he observed.
The Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP) had formed a committee to deal with the issue of psychological trauma. Doctors at several major hospitals were tasked to countenance the problem. Dr Ojha was part of that effort. "We visited several districts, provided counseling to the victim, and then returned," he added.
Dr Ojha said that trauma caused by two such major happenings can persist for years and the government's responsibilities towards the victims do not end after sending out a few psychiatrists and psychologists to the affected districts.
Officials at MoHP, however, claimed that they have not overlooked the problem and have approached donor agencies over the matter. "We do not have the manpower and resources for psychological counseling. So we have requested [donors] to provide such services in the quake-hit districts," said Mahendra Prasad Shrestha, chief of Policy Planning and International Cooperation Division at MoHP.
He concedes that a lot of people have been traumatized by the devastating quake as well as the prolonged blockade, but claimed that the government has been doing its part to help.
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