11 October 2023 – In the wake of devastating floods in Libya, WHO is collaborating with health authorities in eastern Libya to provide a variety of mental health services, from psychological first aid to specialized care by psychiatrists. The organization supports the establishment of mental health clinics staffed by specialists to meet the immediate needs of those affected and help survivors suffering from severe trauma deal with feelings of grief, anxiety, and the loss of loved ones and possessions.
Today, we will meet Dr. Sumaya Shafter, a 44-year-old mental health specialist who works at a primary health care center in the Libyan city of Derna. Derna is suffering from horrific devastation due to the massive floods that followed Storm Daniel in September 2023, which occurred when two dams collapsed in the mountains overlooking the city, unleashing torrential waters that experts estimated at approximately thirty million cubic metres, sweeping away everything in its path. The water was so powerful that it wiped out entire neighborhoods and swept away entire families in its path.
Dr. Somaya, could you please describe the current situation in the flood affected areas and among the affected population?
When I first entered Derna, it had been 3 weeks since the floods, and I saw some people reopening their shops and moving around the city to make ends meet. But I did not see ordinary people in the streets, but rather I saw moving bodies and faces that did not bear any expression of sadness, anger, joy, or any emotions. Their faces were expressionless!
Even the children I saw every day on my way to the clinic did not look like any ordinary children playing and having fun. Rather, I saw them standing with their small bodies, their eyes fixed on those around them, and they did not appear to indicate what they were looking at or searching for.
In some neighborhoods of Derna, you only see signs of destruction! Streets full of household items, building debris, and cars left behind by the floods. No one knows where they came from. I did not see the green trees, flowers and beautiful landscape that Derna was famous for. Whenever I meet a family member, even someone who has not lost any of their family members or homes, they say they need support. Everyone kept repeating, “We have lost everything, and life no longer has any taste.”
Most of my patients – many of whom expressed their joy at having a woman like them to help them – talked about their needs, which were both material and psychological, and mentioned the simple things that they longed for.
I remember a day when I cried when a friend from Derna sent me two pictures of her house. In the first photo, she was drinking coffee in the beautiful, flower-filled yard where her father’s car was. In the second photo, all that remained of their house was mud-colored rubble, and the car did not appear in it because the floods had washed it away. These two pictures illustrate the feelings of all residents of Derna, even those for whom God saved their families from floods.
What efforts is the organization making to help those affected cope with the effects of the crisis on their mental health?
The organization is trying to assess the population’s needs for mental health services, provide more medical teams and necessary medications, allocate places to provide services, and support the efforts of the Libyan Ministry of Health in providing mental health services to all those affected by the floods in Derna.
What challenges does your work face?
There are many challenges facing all mental health service providers in Derna during this period. The first of these challenges is that the Libyan people are not accustomed to seeking such services, even if they are in dire need of them. Those who overcome this have problems moving around. The floods divided Derna into parts that are difficult to move between due to damage to roads and bridges. There are many whose cars have been swept away by the floods, and others who call me from inaccessible places and want mental health services. On top of that, there is no public transportation in the city.
As for those who have overcome their hesitation in obtaining mental health services and are able to move around, some of them do not know the places where mental health services are available these days. When I tell people I’m here to provide these services, they say they didn’t know I existed.
Can you tell us the story of a survivor who sought mental health support?
A 25-year-old patient came to me. She was silent and expressionless; No sadness, anger, joy, or any other feelings. When she began to speak, she cried and complained that she had not slept for days and was suffering from chest tightness and fatigue, despite the normal results of all her medical examinations. She felt that life no longer had any meaning; She lost her aunts, their families, her cousins and her friends. Miraculously, she, her mother, father and sister survived, even though the floods swept them more than 3 kilometers away from their home. But after her survival, this woman found herself sheltering in one house with people she did not know. She told me, “The screams of women and children that I heard that night will never leave me.” And every day that passed, she wondered: Why did she stay alive and others die?! All of this made her lose her appetite for food. When she forced herself to eat, she did not feel the taste of the food.
She told me that she no longer sits with her family, but rather is busy on her phone watching video clips about that night and the latest news about Derna and the missing people. She thought about ending her life and asked me, “Is there anything I can buy and eat to die without feeling any pain?”
When I advised her to go to a mental health specialist or to a specialized psychiatric hospital, which is more than 200 kilometers away in Benghazi, she refused. She also refused to allow her father or mother to come to my clinic. I had no choice but to prescribe some medications for her and refer her for therapy sessions with a mental health specialist.
Unfortunately, the young woman disappeared for 9 days, even though I gave her my phone number to contact me. She did not answer my messages and calls, and her phone remained off. On the ninth day, she returned with a smile on her face that I had never seen before, and my heart soared with joy when I realized it was her. When I asked her where she was, she replied, “Didn’t you advise me to turn off my phone so I don’t watch any more news? Thank God, I’m sleeping better now, and I’m trying to spend time with my family or in the kitchen. I still have some symptoms, but I can sleep now and this has helped me get better.” “.
I was filled with joy and said to myself, “Thank God, I did not lose you.” I feel from within myself the greatness of what everyone is doing to provide mental health support in the city of Derna during this period, and I also feel that its importance and results deserve every effort we make.
2023-10-11 13:56:35
#EMRO #Meeting #Sumaya #Shaftar #urgent #support #field #mental #health #affected #floods #Derna #Libya #News
