Photo via assistnews.net

In the trail of devastation left behind by last year’s devastating floods in Pakistan, thousands of survivors are still grappling with the impact of the disaster, reports Xavier Patras William, special to ASSIST News Service.

“Psychological disorders are rampant among flood affected people, with women and children in particular as the most vulnerable in coping with the traumatic experience,” Dr. Rabia, a psychologist working with flood affected people in Nowshera District, told the media.

Dr. Rabia works with Protection and Referral Mechanism Outreach Unit, an initiative of Life for All, a Christian ministry, and also of the Directorate of Social Welfare of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government.

Many survivors, she said, are suffering from phobias, epilepsy, depression and conversion or seizure disorders.

Dr. Rabia went on to say that “women and children are not accepting the fact that their experiences during the floods are now the past history.”

She said that they hold sessions with affected people by going to their villages and homes and trying to help them lead a normal life.

“There are several cases of children who before the disaster were very bright students and now performing poorly showing no interest in their studies,” she said.

Dr. Rabia recently treated a child who was playing in his house when the flood struck; after witnessing all that ensued, the child developed aquaphobia (an abnormal and persistent fear of water) and was afraid of taking baths, along with a sleeping disorder that stopped him from attending school.

The psychologist said that the child’s family took him to a psychiatrist and after months of counseling and treatment, the boy has started attending school again.

She said that treatment of such cases is lengthy and takes at least six months with consistent and regular medication and counseling.

“Women and children, who saw this catastrophe unfold before their eyes and were stranded in the flood waters for days, are the worst sufferers,” she said.

These women have developed severe depression; having literally seen their valuables and even their homes drift away, the memories still haunt them.

“We have dealt with at least 40 different psychological cases at this center within a month and there are many more out there,” she said.

The outreach unit’s focal person, Rizwan Paul, told the media that they were holding two to three such counseling sessions per week with the community. He said that community officers including psychologists and legal advisers go to the community to raise awareness and help them overcome their fears.

“We usually send female staffers for these sessions as they can easily communicate with women,” he added.

Note: The 2010 Pakistan floods began in July 2010 following heavy monsoon rains in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh, Punjab and Balochistan regions of Pakistan and affected the Indus River basin. At one point, approximately one-fifth of Pakistan's total land area was underwater. According to Pakistani government data the floods directly affected about 20 million people, mostly by destruction of property, livelihood and infrastructure, with a death toll of close to 2,000. The number of individuals affected by the flooding exceeds the combined total of individuals affected by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, the 2005 Kashmir earthquake and the 2010 Haiti earthquake.