PHOTO | SULEIMAN MBATIAH | FILE A Nakuru resident during a ceremony in
memory of the victims of the Westgate attack on September 27, 2013.
NATION MEDIA GROUP
Sunday, November 03, 2013
A team of psychologists who have been helping counsel survivors
of the Westgate attack now want the government to put in place proper
measures of dealing with the effect of disasters on the mental health of
survivors.
In their report, the Kenya Psychological
Association (KPA) warns that the longterm mental effect of the incident,
like many others before it, could be devastating unless proper
counselling system is put in place.
“There is need for
planning with proper structures put in place to ensure that we address
the past array of psychological needs relating to terror and guarantee
preparedness for the future,” the team says in a document titled Report
on the Westgate Trauma Psychosocial Support Programme.
The
specialists state that while the Westgate Mall attack has “negatively
impacted the emotional health of the Kenyan people,” the consistent
pattern with which survivors of previous terror attacks were left on
their own is a worrying trend that could lead to future social problems.
“We
are finding out that many survivors of the 1998 bombing and previous
other attacks have never fully healed. The nation has remained
psychologically unprepared for terror attacks for the reason that proper
structures have been absent in Kenya in anticipation of such
eventualities.”
On September 21, terrorists laid siege
to the Westgate Mall leading to the deaths of at least 70 people with
hundreds others injured. Although many of those injured were treated and
discharged, the Kenya Red Cross in conjunction with KPA employed 400
psychologists and counsellors to help provide what they called
‘Psychological First-Aid.’
The KPA in conjunction with
the Kenya Red Cross set up trauma centres at the Oshwal Centre, and
later at Uhuru Park, from where teams were sent to various hospitals in
Nairobi to act side by side with medics who were attending to the
injured. At Oshwal, survivors were rushed in from Westgate for quick
first aid before being taken to hospitals for further treatment.
They
assisted survivors of the attack, relatives and friends of the dead and
injured, soldiers, the police and volunteers including the Kenya Red
Cross team itself.
According
to Dr Gladys K Mwiti, the KPA chairperson and a member of the Board of
Directors for the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies,
this initial counselling was only meant to establish a path to recovery
but was not enough. The Westgate attack saw about 3,000 survivors and
relatives counselled although the report says that there is a need for
another two phases to be done.
“The first thing we did
in this first aid was to ask people what their need was, someone may say
‘my child is missing’, someone may say ‘my property has just gone up in
the fire’. After listening to their need and offering comfort and hope,
the individual was connected to where they can get that help,” Dr Mwiti
told the Nation.
But the team reports that even those
not directly affected by the attack were helped. They include
journalists, security agents and volunteers; some of the people who
witnessed the attack and aftermath first.
“It is very
clear that follow-up is needed if those affected by the attack and the
general populace is to heal,” Dr Mwiti said in a report she co-presented
with her colleagues Sammy Wambugu, a Counselling Psychologist and Dr
Oscar Githua, a Forensic Psychologist.
“The people our
team met and counselled were in pain, grief, stress, had lost appetite,
were anxious, reported headaches and insomnia, mood swings, poor
concentration and some are in self-blame.
“In
psychological terms, the danger that lurks after the Westgate attack is
even greater as it has the capacity to break the very fabric and harmony
in our society. The attack could definitely incubate mass depression,
trauma and even conflict between the main religious groups in Kenya.”
The
experts warn that if this is left untouched, “suicide, hallucinations
and delusions, depression, suicidal tendencies, chronic anxiety and
fatigue, hostility, hypersensitivity, eating disorders such as anorexia
or obesity, and other obsessive behaviours” could befall the survivors.