Shock over, trauma sets in

The city’s psychiatrists have sprung into action, taking distress calls and making emergency visits.

The city’s psychiatrists have sprung into action, taking distress calls and making emergency visits. According to Dr Yusuf Matchiswalla, head of psychiatric department, Masina Hospital, and visiting psychiatrist at JJ, GT, Saifee and police hospitals, “We have activated our 24-hour helpline numbers for distress callers. Now, that the initial and acute shock has passed, the post-terror trauma will start sinking in. In the coming days we expect a large number of callers struggling to cope up.” Matchiswalla said the psychiatrists are already handling calls from foreigners, youngsters and parents of disturbed school children.

Dr Ambreen Pradhan, pracitising psychologist at Masina, said: “Most of our callers are in the age group of 25-30. They are utterly traumatised, nervous, often in a state of denial.” She gave an example of a young caller: “This man had asked his friends to meet at Leopold’s at 10 pm on Wednesday night. The friends, who initially wanted to go elsewhere for dinner, agreed to go to Leopold’s on his insistence. While they waited for him, he arrived late, after 10.30. By then the entire restaurant was in a shambles and his friends had died. Today, this man is going through a guilt complex. He blames himself for his friends’ death.”

Pradhan said, the symptoms of post-terror trauma are numbness, guilt, refusal to make an eye contact, refusal to speak to even loved ones and so on. “It will need a few months of anti-depressants and counseling to cure such cases,” she explained.

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Over the next few months, Matchiswala and his team from Masina Hospital have organised multiple pick-up ambulances for trauma patients, spot-on sessions at the Taj and Oberoi, special impromptu sessions with people who were on duty when the terror struck and group therapy — all for free.

“Starting Monday, we will personally visit the sub-stations of the police and fire brigade; hospitals and ambulances; as well as schools, and offer special session for those who witnessed the tragedy from close quarters.” On Sunday itself, the Masina team met at least 27 patients, Pradhan said.

A Pune-base clinical psychologist, who has rushed to the city to help trauma victims, Dr Meenal Lonkar Kavishwar, is probably India’s only animal-assisted therapist. Kavishwar has a team of 40 volunteers and trained dogs in her clinic, Animal Angels Foundation. “We are in discussion with several hospitals, trying to set up a full-time, free psychiatric counseling centre. Our work should begin by next week,” Kavishwar said.

After the 7/11 train blasts in Mumbai, Kavishwar had set up a similar platform with the Bombay Psychiatric Society, and treated 40 patients with the help of animals.

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“Animals provide immense comfort — their touch is soothing and helps in instant catharsis. This kind of treatment is very common in other countries,” Kavishwar pointed out. Her team includes clinical psychologist, physiotherapists and counselors as well as several volunteers from SNDT College. Her therapy dogs are specially trained.

Stressing on the importance of psychiatric counseling, Pradhan said, “This attack has been very severe since it went on for 60 hours, unlike past terror attacks which lasted for a couple of hours. People have seen gore in the places they frequent and that’s going to leave a deep scar. Most watched television non-stop for two days, and identified with the places that were attacks. It is critical to treat them now, otherwise the damage could become embedded.”

Call:

Masina Hospital’s 24-hours free psychiatric and counselling aid at 6450 7171

Dr Y Matcheswalla at 098200 81884

Dr Meenal Kavishwar 099875 09102

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