Sri Wahyuni, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta
Medical workers in the earthquake-devastated province of Yogyakarta are used to dealing with broken legs and spines — and mental disease.
Mental disorders have been found among the victims of the earthquake and foreign volunteers involved in the relief mission in areas hardest hit by the disaster.
Two weeks after the quake rocked the royal city and its surrounding areas, dozens of survivors have been admitted to hospitals for psychiatric treatment.
Rochana Dwi Astuti, head of the Medical Service Unit at Grhasia state mental hospital in Pakem district, 20 kilometers north of Yogyakarta, told The Jakarta Post on Sunday the hospital had admitted 79 people who had become mentally ill after the quake, 58 of them requiring intensive treatment.
"Given the plight the disaster has inflicted on the people, I believe the number will increase in the coming days," Rochana said.
A surge in the number of patients has also been seen in other mental health units, including at Puri Nirmala mental hospital and the Psychiatric Unit at Dr. Sardjito General Hospital in Yogyakarta.
Puri Nirmala has been treating six patients with mental disorders and examined others who have displayed symptoms of mental illness.
At Dr. Sardjito Hospital's psychiatric unit, 15 people who were wounded in the earthquake require further treatment due to mental disorders, while 53 others need counseling.
"We are also treating 38 other patients who are suffering from light to acute stress and therefore need the right, careful care. Otherwise, their mental condition may worsen," psychiatrist Bambang Hastha Yoga of Dr. Sardjito Hospital's psychiatric unit said.
Speaking at a joint press conference held over the weekend, Yoga added those being hospitalized at the hospital's mental illness wards were mostly at risk of physically harming themselves or other people.
The psychiatrist said the hospital was also treating a foreign volunteer who had been working in the affected areas as a general physician. Identified only as a man aged 42 years old, the man was admitted to the hospital because of a serious psychological disorder.
"He claims to be a prophet, preaching to volunteers from other countries. He is very suspicious of others and eager to attack others. That's why he was sent here," Yoga said.
Those who require psychiatric counseling are mostly suffering from acute stress, insomnia and anxiety resulting from the traumatic experience of the 5.9-magnitude quake, according to Yoga.
To help quake survivors recognize early the symptoms of mental illness among themselves or their family members, including children, Dr. Sardjito Hospital has distributed some 2,000 copies of a brochure on the issue. The brochure also contains guidelines on what they should do if they find the symptoms in themselves or other family members.
"The dissemination of the information is expected to help reduce the negative impact of the quake on the mental health of the survivors," Yoga said.
The hospital has also sent a mobile team of physicians and psychiatrists to perform a "rapid assessment" of local mental health.
"We are yet to be able to tell you the result because the program is still in progress," said Yoga, adding the assessment was being held in all affected areas in the five regencies and municipalities across the province.
