REPORTS

Quarterly Report of IPTP Activities.
January to April, 2006

Report of IPTP Visits
Sehar Hasan, Clinical Psychologist

Report of  Visit to Earthquake Hit Areas

3rd International Congress of Association of International Womens Mental Health

ARTICLES

USE of Media-Radio and Cable TV in Earthquake Areas of NWFP.
Haider Husain: Post-graduate in Psychiatry

Experience with children. Z. Meher Hasan, Senior Clinical Psychologist

Impressions of 4th Visit to Earthquake Hit Areas

USE of Media-Radio and Cable TV in Earthquake Areas of NWFP
Haider Husain: Post-graduate in Psychiatry

IPTP and local cable television and radio to cover large population of north west frontier province of Pakistan in the 8th October earthquake. Media enabled IPTP to reach out to a large section of the affected population, as psychological first aid was needed at the time of disaster.

In the absence of an organized infrastructure and trained manpower available, media becomes a strong source of information and support to people who need knowledge and information to deal with so many problems being faced by them. They challenge our sense of safety and security and can trigger strong physical and emotional reactions within us. Learning how to deal and finding ways to cope in response to witnessing, hearing or living through a disaster are significant means to maintaining ones emotional health during such stressful times.

Conflicting information as common in crisis setting and one should not assume that others are trying to be misleading or not doing their job well. It is important for media channels to work together and be clear and give non contradictory information. Providing useful information is among the most important needs to be met in the face of a disaster.

A View of Devasted Balakot

News media, local radio, local cable TV and print media was used to provide Psychiatric First Aid. Talks, interviews were organized by IPTP and then repeatedly shown to convey messages, dispel rumors, explain basic facts about the earthquake. Radio in camps played a pivotal role.

The public at large needed assurances, guidance and tips on the best way to deal with their traumatic experience. Media can also become a source of distress in this kind of situation. It was evident when some religious enthusiast misinterpreted the natural disaster, claiming it to be the consequence of man inviting divine wrath, straying from the true path. These programs were being relayed via different media channels.

This not only true for Pakistan, it has happened in different societies and cultures as well during natural disaster where they are taken as divine retribution similar situation was reported in Lisbon after the 1755 Earthquake which killed 60,000, priests ravaged though the rubble and hung people at random to punish those most likely to attract God is anger and hate.

Al Rasheed Trust Camp for Destitute Women (Mansehra)

In Krakatoa, Indonesia in 1883 the volcanic eruption is said to have fueled the growth of an extremist strain of Islam, by focusing on creating a society with no impurities displeasing to God. In San Francisco, 1906 the earthquake led to the rise of the Christian fanatic Pentecostal movement, still alive in Los Angeles. When tragedies take place, the self-aggrandizement of the religious devout has no end. This is their window of opportunity to sell their brand.

During the early days of October 8th earthquake in Pakistan. Some of the religious clergy declared this disaster was the wrath of God as the people were disbelievers and evil was prevalent in the society. They were simultaneously hammering this slogan against the army that they lacked in their duty. What was being portrayed on the media channels was a collapsed building in Islamabad and it was assumed that far flung remote areas ignored as far as relief work was concerned the affectees did not know the enormity of the disaster or the fact that the army itself had suffered losses. The inaccessible terrain, weather all played a role in hampering relief work. Everyone was caught off guard by a disaster of this magnitude. IPTP Educated the public about the common symptoms of Psycho Trauma.,disseminated information and facts about the earthquake and especially the aftershocks had participation in talk shows about the effects Psycho Trauma on various TV channels.

Provide medical news and information to help relief workers as well as the victims to cope with the situation. What is required for successful resilience building and healing impact by the media is intended outcome reporting. The idea is to produce information specifically designed to influence attitudes toward change of perception, arousal of emotion, leading to action and allowing the media to become a facilitator of positive social change.