In a rustic the place somebody commits suicide each hour, the lack of entry to psychological well being care is extraordinarily regarding.
While South Africans are resilient, they’re beneath fixed stress because of the excessive crime price in the nation, the excessive ranges of poverty and unemployment.
This fixed stress, believes medical psychologist, main psychological healthcare professional, Co-CEO and co-founder of ‘Join Panda’ a psychological well being app, Allan Sweidan, exacerbated the devastating impact on these affected by the latest floods in KwaZulu-Natal.
“I think when the floods hit, for many people it was even more devastating because they didn’t really have a foundation from which they could start to rebuild,” Sweidan instructed The Citizen.
Not solely did the floods, each in KZN and different elements of the nation, have a large socio-economic impact on folks’s lives, the pure catastrophe was additionally a really traumatic expertise for South Africans.
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Whether you discovered your self in a life-threatening state of affairs at the time, otherwise you really feel that you just or somebody you realize have been near a state of affairs that was life threatening throughout the floods, you skilled actual trauma, which may result in submit traumatic dysfunction.
Your speedy want if you end up affected by a pure catastrophe like the floods will be to discover a place to reside, meals and water, however your psychological well being shouldn’t take a again seat throughout this time.
Former Uber basic supervisor, who can be a Co-CEO and co-founder of ‘Join Panda’ Alon Lits says whereas it is perhaps simpler to disregard your health-related points as a result of they don’t appear as actual as the injury to your property or enterprise that must be fastened, they’re nonetheless there and shouldn’t be ignored.
“Once the dust settles and life starts getting back some sense of normality, the trauma of the events that transpired will kick in,” he says.
Sweidan agrees saying that if you don’t take care of your submit traumatic dysfunction, it will probably flip into one thing extra critical like a medical despair or anxiousness dysfunction.
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He says the greatest solution to take care of traumatic conditions, for most individuals, is to maintain retelling the story of what occurred. “If you don’t talk about it and deal with your feelings, it won’t go away and it will eventually start affecting your functionality, sleep and relationships.”
If you’ve been affected by the floods, likelihood is that you just will expertise some triggers till you’ve handled the trauma. The scenes you see in motion pictures of troopers returning residence from struggle, after which reacting negatively to sounds of gun hearth is not fiction.
Sweidan says he has had first-hand expertise of what this kind of trauma can do to somebody. “You are lost in your own mind and reliving those traumatic experiences again.”
To take care of the triggers, he suggests being sort to your self, not pushing any boundaries and to keep away from going again to a web site that is perhaps a catastrophe web site and not watching the information of the occasions again and again.
The impact of the KZN floods on psychological well being
“I was struck by the reaction of the rescue workers who do this kind of thing day in and day out, and how devastated they were about what they saw. I think that shows the extent of the loss, of the grief people were experiencing in KZN, so much so that seasoned policeman, firemen and other rescue workers were brought to tears by the devastation they saw,” says Sweidan.
ALSO SEE: How to take care of the loss of life of a partner
While there are at present no stats obtainable, Sweidan believes suicides in flood-affected areas are just a little extra prevalent in the wake of the devastation.
“Before the floods, South Africa had the 10th highest suicide rate in the world and the third highest in Africa. A person commits suicide in South Africa every hour. For every single person that successfully kills themselves, there are 20 suicide attempts.”
He says folks usually don’t need to speak about the trauma straight after the occasion occurred, however that you will need to take care of it. “I think it will take a while for them to digest what they have been through, and then get to a point where they are ready to talk about it and how it is affecting their lives.”
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While South Africans have managed to reside with on a regular basis stress, whether or not or not it’s site visitors, monetary stress or relationship struggles, it’s manageable and so they can nonetheless operate. But, with a disaster like this [the floods] some folks’s on a regular basis performance is deeply affected.
This is the place ‘Join Panda’ might help communities.
According to Operations Director at The South African Depression and Anxiety Group, as much as 80% of South Africans who want psychological well being assist are unable to entry it simply.
There are numerous causes for this together with the stigma hooked up to psychological well being issues, uncertainty as to how or what kind of physician to contact, cultural limitations and the price of remedy.
The Panda app is the first of its sort in addressing mental-health wants. Lits says the purpose of the app is to make psychological well being care as accessible as they’ll by know-how.
The reside periods, each day from 10am to 3pm overlaying numerous matters, are interactive and moderated by consultants in the area. Sessions are audio solely which implies you may keep nameless if you like to take action. You will additionally get a possibility to ask questions and speak to friends who’ve been affected in comparable methods.
To obtain the app without spending a dime, search ‘Join Panda’ on the Apple App store or Google Play store. Use the promo code “Citizen” to enroll.