SHARANA (SW) – Children in the earthquake-hit Paktika and Khost provinces are faced with trauma and psychological disorders after losing their parents and other relatives to the calamity.
A week after the earthquake in the southeastern provinces of the country, a number of affected families say that their children are not in a good mental state.
According to them, the children are very scared after the earthquake and their pain and anxiety are increasing with each passing day. Affected families told Salam Watandar that their children are still suffering from insomnia or nightmares.
Hossein and Hikmatullah, who lost most of their family members in last week’s earthquake in Paktika, say that this earthquake caused financial damage as well as psychological damage.
“It has had a negative effect on our children, they scream in their sleep every night,” says Hossein.
Hekmatullah said children are dealing with many problems. “Besides children, adults also have problems, they are afraid.”
Although the Department of Public Health of Paktika confirms the occurrence of mental-psychological problems among children, it says that counseling services have been provided for affected children.
Yaqub Patmel, Deputy Director of Public Health of Paktika, says: “A large percentage of children have faced psychological problems. We have created women’s and men’s sections to handle mental problems, even at the specialist level. Our effort is to increase our services in the psychological sector and serve the people.”
Meanwhile, Najibullah, the head of the World Health Organization in Paktika, says that the organization has not yet considered counseling programs for the victims, especially children.
“The injured are facing serious problems, psychological problems are more among women and children, we also do not have a special program for them in the clinics. School is not fun for them anymore, they don’t have a home, their father was martyred.”
Psychologists say that children as a vulnerable group suffer from fear, anxiety and depression regarding mental injuries after the earthquake.
Esmet Hashemi, a psychologist, tells Salaam Watandar that children lose the feeling of peace and comfort because they have no control over themselves. “It has a very bad effect on their psyche.”
Abdullah Hosseini, another psychologist, also told Salaam Watandar that if the children are not helped and if they are put in the same situation and the same fear is always in their minds, this causes depression. “This depression is the kind that makes a person feel that the incident will repeat itself in any situation.”
ENDS
