Istanbul-Antakya-Turkey: Three weeks have passed since Tocci Siren Gul’s aunt and grandmother were killed in Antakya when a devastating earthquake struck southeastern Turkey. Yet every night, she waits until 4.17am, the time the disaster struck, to try to sleep.
When the earthquake struck, Gul, 28, managed to escape from the house with her mother moments before the walls collapsed. “I keep thinking another catastrophe will happen at that time and wait for it to pass,” she said.
After reaching the street barefoot, Jules saw the dead bodies of neighbors who had been killed by falling concrete. She remembers the cries of those trapped in the collapsed buildings.
Gul said the horror had caused a deep psychological crisis for the survivors, who had “lost everything” in the quake-ravaged city of Antakya. One day she wants to seek professional help to recover from the trauma, but for now, creating a new life for herself and her family is the only priority.
Experts and officials said the 7.8-magnitude quake, the deadliest in Turkey’s recent history, will have a profound psychological impact. More than 44,300 people have died in the country and more than 1.5 million people have been displaced in the freezing weather. Millions have lost family members, jobs, savings and hopes for the future.
Children are at risk
Experts fear that children will be the worst affected. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said that many of the 5.4 million children living in the quake zone are at risk of developing anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.
“We know how important learning and routine are for children and their recovery,” said Afshan Khan, UNICEF Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia, after a visit to Turkey.
“They need to be able to resume their education, and they desperately need psychosocial support to help deal with the trauma they have experienced,” she added.
In a large camp for the displaced next to Hatay Stadium on the outskirts of Antakya, psychosocial support teams have set up small play areas and pitched tents filled with toys. Children sat on multicolored chairs in front of a large portable screen showing cartoons, and some children played childish games.
Mohamed Sari, a government psychosocial support worker, said he and others in his team detected signs of trauma in the children. “We see that some children can’t sleep, some don’t eat, and some of them reminisce about what happened and wet their sleeping places,” he told Reuters.
And he added that they need long-term support to recover from the trauma.
Turkey’s Ministry of Family and Social Services said it had sent more than 3,700 social workers to support survivors in the quake zone.
Volunteers from the Socak Sanatlari Atulici Art Group, in Izmir, dressed up in Superman and clown costumes and gave activities to children living in tents in a shelter in Hatay province.
But a large 6.4-magnitude earthquake shattered efforts to give children some sense of normalcy amid weeks of horrific aftershocks.
Constant chronic stress
Ayşe Bilç Selçuk, Professor and Psychologist at MEF University of Turkey, said that the Turkish people are already under great pressure, due to increasing poverty and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and now the earthquake has taken it to the next level.
“The stress is chronic and persistent and is now beyond the level we can handle,” she added. For this nation to stand on its own two feet, we need to find that strength within ourselves and that starts with our psychological state.”
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has pledged to rebuild the homes within a year, but it will be several months before thousands can leave the tents or shipping containers and daily lines for food and move into permanent housing, key to gaining the sense of normality and safety they have lost.
People appear numb, and this is likely a defense mechanism for dealing with insurmountable stress, according to Selcuk. Anxiety, helplessness and depression are likely to be widespread and young people may feel angry.
Selcuk said rebuilding efforts must include mental health, and urged the government to provide funding for trained psychologists to send to and stay there. “Sustainability is the key,” she added. We should not turn our attention away after three months.”
(Reuters)
