Post-traumatic stress disorder in children after floods, says expert

Rifat Mohidin

Srinagar, April 19

With children being the worst victims of the September floods in Kashmir, experts say the deluge became one of the reasons for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among them as many cases were witnessed post floods in Srinagar and other parts of the Valley.

Dr Arshad Hussain, a noted psychiatrist of the Valley, said the increase in cases of stress among children was witnessed in Kashmir after the floods. He said children showed symptoms of fear, anxiety and sleeplessness.

“There were cases where children had fear psychosis. We identified four cases where children were suffering from PTSD. The children were in trauma and fear due to the memories and loss during the floods,” the doctor said.

Studies have revealed that after natural calamities such as the floods and earthquakes, children are likely to be affected in various capacities and because of lack of facilities, they could also fall prey to diseases.

Many parents in the worst-hit areas of Srinagar said they had a hard time in coping up with the stress of their children who are being haunted by the memories of the devastating floods.

“I along with my three children was trapped inside our house, surrounded by 23-feet water for three days. It was a horrible time for all of us. My children could not cope up with the trauma for four months. When they wake up in the morning, they still ask will the floods come again. They are even scared of rain,” said Waseem Ahmad, a resident of the Rajbagh area of Srinagar. He added that children were the worst sufferers during the floods.

After the floods, keeping in view stress and situation of children, Save the Children, an NGO which works for the rights of children worldwide, created child-friendly spaces across Kashmir as a destressing mechanism for children prone to mental disorders after the floods.

“The child-friendly spaces help children to come out of stress. In these places, we provide children space for playing and spending time with other kids,” said state project manager of Save the Children Shari Bhat.

As the education of children was affected during and after the floods, Bhat said they also created winter schooling camps for children in many parts of Kashmir.

“Though many NGOs were active in Srinagar post floods, we also worked in the city, but we focused more on far-flung areas of Pulwama where children already have conflict stress and the situation due to the floods made it worse. In total, we established six child-friendly spaces and 10 winter education camps,” he said.