In the wake of the terror attacks in Mumbai, psychotherapists will also be receiving training on a cutting edge therapy method called eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR). A team of German experts will soon come to the city to impart training. “EMDR is still an experimental therapy which uses eye movements to take care of disturbing life experiences. But we think it will be very useful for PTSD cases right now in the city,” says Hingorrany, whose clinic has seen patient numbers almost double since the terror attacks unfolded.
Group therapy
Even simply being part of a group therapy session can help. A teacher at a south Mumbai school, who wanted to remain anonymous, attended one such session, and while she says she didn’t talk as much as the other members of her group, she admits that it helped.
“Really, each person is in their own world, and each person has unique thoughts and fears, and they take their own time to come out of it,” she says. “But I definitely think people should go through it.”
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Contact
• Jamsetji Tata Centre for Disaster Management, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Malti and Jal A.D. Naoroji (new campus), Lala Jamnadas Gupta Marg, off V.N. Purab Marg, P.O. box 8313, Mumbai - 400088; phone, 022-25563289-96; email: jtcdm@ tiss.edu
• Swanchetan, D1 / 1017, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi – 110070; phone, 011-26123931 / 26135296 ; email: info@swanchetan.org
• National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences, Department of Psychiatric Social Work, Hosur Road, Bangalore – 560029; phone, 080-26995200 / 26995255
Tips
• In a post-traumatic disorder, people are not completely functional for at least three-four months
• Try to normalize routines as much as possible—walks, work, food, social commitments
• New projects with tough deadlines and delivery schedules should be avoided
• Family support should not be overbearing
• If unable to resume normal life in six months, consult a psychiatrist and take medication, especially for restoring sleep patterns
• Guard against “learned helplessness”—a condition where the mind gets programmed to be helpless, to feel trapped and be unable to, say, open a door and rush out in case of a fire, either expecting help to arrive or the flames to consume one. Taru Bahl
Know
Physiological reactions to trauma can include sudden sweats, insomnia, a dependence on drugs or alcohol, heart palpitations, and a tendency to be alarmed easily by loud noises. It could also be characterized by aches and pains such as headache, backache, stomach ache, or changes in sleep patterns, loss of appetite, lack of interest in sex, constipation or diarrhoea and generally weakened resistance. Emotional reactions, harder to pin down, include constant fear or anxiety, nightmares, emotional distance from loved ones, survivor’s guilt, flashbacks, deep introversion, constant grief or numbness.
Think