THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: About 1.85 lakh people in flood-hit areas have sought help from counselling teams formed under the health department with the support of social justice department.“Till September 14, 1,85,538 people had sought assistance of the counselling teams constituted in the flood-affected areas. The health department had constituted a team of 16,671 counsellors in 10 districts,’’ said health minister K K Shailaja.This team of counsellors had visited 661 relief camps and conducted 1,00,187 house visits to help the victims. Of the people who sought counselling, 1,525 people needed continuous psychological treatment.The minister said at present, 120 such medical teams are functioning in 10 districts. The teams plan to conduct more house visits in the coming days.The counselling teams-—comprising a core team and an interventional team-—were constituted on August 18. Children and elders were given counselling separately.The government has also decided to train ASHA workers for the purpose. Since experts have pointed out that trauma and depression may persist, the counselling teams would continue conducting house visits for some more time, said the minister.

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