KOCHI: Of the 2.2 lakh people to whom the state government reached out as part of its programme to offer psycho-social assistance in the aftermath of floods, nearly 1,543 people had severe anxiety and depression, needing medical help.Though the number may appear small, the mental health authorities are of the view that there may be many more, who need long-term intervention. Considering this the government has decided to extend the programme and take it to the panchayat level.“Post-disaster, victims can develop psychological symptoms weeks and months after the incident has happened. That is why we are looking at long-term intervention,” said Dr Kiran P S, state nodal officer, mental health.While majority of those counselled were affected due to the floods, there were also some who had history of existing mental illness and had lost medicines and records.“After the floods, our primary focus was listening to grievances and reassuring victims. Majority of cases we came across were of mild depression due to loss of property or livelihood. Severe or pathological depression was rare,” said Dr Kiran.Health minister K K Shailaja said working with flood victims is a continuous process. “Continuous counselling has helped those affected,” she said.Besides doctors and volunteers, Asha workers were trained to talk to flood victims in the camps and later undertake house visits. Rather than search for people with depression or anxiety, the Asha workers were asked to visit all floodaffected houses. “Since it is a large-scale disaster we were trying to reach out to maximum number of people and ensure that they were reassured and those needed intervention they are able to get access to the mental health team. Along with listening and reassurance, people are asked about their other needs such as food, shelter, clothing,” said Dr Kiran.Now with the first phase over, the state government plans to consider specific cases at the panchayat-level and focus on long-term intervention, with house visits by Asha workers planned every month.“We noticed anxiety and depression among many. But people who already had mental health problems were affected more than the healthy people as some of them were forced to discontinue medicines and were stressed out,” said Dr K S Shaji, psychiatrist, Thrissur Medical College.Kerala University of Health Sciences (KUHS) has decided to undertake research regarding the health impact of the disastrous flood. The School of Health Policy and Planning, Thiruvananthapuram , along with KUHS will study the extent, gravity and intensity of flood, possible health effects – physical and psychological, possible risk factors for psychological trauma, identified stress factors and strengths and supports – in the form of NGOs, neighbourhood group etc available in each affected area.

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