By Jillian Farrel -- February 8, 2010
After the earthquake in Haiti, certain losses were evident, such as homes, jobs, and loved ones. However, as many as 1 in 5 of disaster victims have suffered from trauma, resulting in a loss of mental stability.
The difficulty about these symptoms is that they cannot be diagnosed with a stethoscope, blood tests, or x-rays, and they can take time to come into fruition after the initial shock.
According to Doctor Lynne Jones, a senior medical adviser for International Medical Corps., "it's about assisting mourning. People cannot recover if their basic social needs are not met."
Hugo Emmanuel, who is pushing fifty years old, lies on a mattress on a kitchenette floor in the Espoir Hospital in Port Au Prince's eastern hills. He has only let the hospital director feed him, while claiming everyone else is out to poison him. The hospital director, Dr. Darline, mentioned he's slightly amnesiac, which is only part of the problem.
Mental illness is not generally accepted in the Haitian culture, according to a cultural study. Unless mental illness causes a significant social disruption, it goes unnoticed.
Port Au Prince houses only one psychiatric hospital. According to to Dr. Peter Hughes, an Irish Psychiatrist who arrived last week to study the current conditions, observed that all but 11 out of the pre-quake patients were removed, for fear the building would collapse.
It is not known how many health care workers are available to help in the region. It's likely to conclude that Haiti will have to train more of its personnel to work with those suffering from psychological trauma.
