Mental scars surface as India's floods recede

KOLKATA, India - The devastation caused by floods in northeast and east India has left thousands of people with psychological problems, including post-traumatic stress disorder, health officials said.

Millions across South Asia are struggling to rebuild their homes as receding floodwaters reveal the massive devastation caused by heavy monsoon flooding, some of the worst in years.

While flood waters recede, many victims still live in temporary shelters with no idea of when they will return home and with little or no government help to rebuild their houses.

A slow government response has worsened conditions for victims, health workers say, amid criticism of affected local states seen as rife with inefficiency and corruption.

Flood victims are spending sleepless nights in dozens of temporary shelters and are refusing to go back to their villages, officials say.

"We found a large number of victims trembling with recurrent nightmares of losing all their near ones in fresh flooding," said Rajeshwar Thakur, a senior health official, after treating dozens of victims in the eastern Indian state of Bihar.

Floods damaged hundreds of thousands of hectares of farmland and destroyed roads and bridges across the region.

More than 2,000 people in northeastern and eastern India as well as Bangladesh were killed by landslides, drowning, snake bites, diarrhoea and collapsed homes after swollen rivers burst their banks, inundating huge areas since July.

At least 5,000 people had already been treated for mental illnesses in the eastern states of Bihar and West Bengal caused by prolonged misery and suffering during this year's floods.

"Adults are suffering from insecurity, depression and pessimism, while children have developed fear of rains, water and storms," said Dr. Dipesh Bhagabati, a psychiatrist, who has treated hundreds of patients over the past couple of months.

CRITICISM OF AUTHORITIES

Many flood victims in Bihar and West Bengal reacted violently when health workers arrived with medicines this week.

"Some of them have thrown away medicines, attacked healthcare workers ... while others were just quiet and did not speak at all," said Ranadip Ghosh Roy, a senior member of the Indian Psychiatric Society.

Many victims are more likely to attribute their suffering to evil spirits or consider the tragedies as retribution for sins committed by their ancestors.

Many people prefer to seek the advice of faith healers rather than going to medically trained professional.

"There are some patients who had been to faith healers more than 20 times before they approached me for treatment," said Dr. Bhagabati.

The social stigma attached to psychiatry makes it all the harder for doctors to reach out to people in flood-hit areas.

A lack of government aid has contributed to mental problems.

Flood victims in eastern India remained hungry for days as authorities struggled to provide aid to millions of people.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who represents flood-hit Assam state in parliament, was criticised for not visiting victims.

"The government's complete failure to provide aid on time this year once again showed how bad they are on tackling disasters," economist Abhirup Sarkar of the Indian Statistical Institute said.

In communist-ruled West Bengal, flood victims disrupted a rally and roughed up political activists this week, saying they wanted food and did not wish to hear lectures from politicians.

"The apathy towards flood victims has left a deep scar and will take a long time to heal," said Roy.

"To start treating them, just give them food to eat."