Skin deep wounds are easy to heal – a simple amputation can ensure survival. But remedying invisible injuries that are rooted deep inside the psyche of human beings, especially those who have witnessed terrible disasters, are never so simple.
Things get particularly difficult for people belonging to low income groups such as the readymade garment workers, who used to make apparels for the factories housed by the fateful Rana Plaza. The fact that there is very little awareness and few treatment facilities in Bangladesh for mental disorders make things even more difficult.
The results are even more disastrous for these people, who struggle relentlessly to get rid of the poverty jinx. The government’s indifference towards such predicaments often results in triggering suicidal tendencies, leaving entire families in rags and many of them losing their livelihoods altogether.
Razibul Rahman Kari, 20, was a sewing machine operator in one of the factories inside the Rana Plaza. He was pinned by a heavy slab after the building came down.
A volunteer might have pulled him from under the rubble, but in his mind, he has never quite been out.
After he went home, he tried to break one of the walls in his room. When his mother would ask him to eat food, he would say he could not because he was trying to break the wall to rescue himself.
The young man also tried to kill himself twice.
A recent study by ActionAid Bangladesh has found that 24% of the survivors and the rescue workers have been suffering from traumas of different scales.
They either have difficulty sleeping or get uncontrollable fits. Their phobia of multi-storeyed buildings, concrete roofs and darkness has been hurting them.
Many of them see dead bodies in their dreams. The haunting memories severely encumber the performance of those who have new jobs.
The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), with support from the World Health Organisation, provided psychological first-aid, counselling and medicine to around 4,000 survivors after the collapse. But a good number of the affected remain unattended.
“The activities ended on November 30 last year due to an absence of funds,” said NIMH Director Waziul Alam Chowdhury.
Many of the traumatised survivors have turned to local doctors and their conditions have gotten even worse. There are still over 100 deeply traumatised workers who need to be admitted for psychological treatment, the study says.
“But they are not coming to the hospitals,” Waziul regretted.
“Providing psychological support to the disaster victims is new in our country. Family members do not bother about these problems. Apart from the survivors, a total of 78 rescuers have received treatment from us,” he said.
According to doctors, seven of them suffered from acute stress disorder, 23 from post-traumatic stress disorder, five from bipolar mood disorder, four from conversion disorder, two from general anxiety disorder, one from panic attacks, one from drug addiction and one suffered from manic disorder. Six of them were admitted to the NIMH.
Waziul said many of the workers who had mental illness were yet to be addressed. They should be treated as soon as possible.