Thursday 23 November 2023 | PNS | DEHRADUN
While commenting on the harrowing experiences the workers, stuck in a sunless, airless tunnel at Silkyara in Uttarkashi, have been undergoing for over ten days, some psychologists based in the city said that Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is one of the major long-term impacts that workers may suffer after they are evacuated.
Talking to The Pioneer, neuropsychologist Dr Sona Kaushal Gupta said on Wednesday, “Their prolonged confinement in the tunnel must have its long-lasting mental repercussions principally in the form of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) under which they may have recurrent nightmares and sleep disorder. Besides, the memories of these days will keep haunting them for the rest of their lives unless they are provided trauma-focused therapy. Such therapies might help them accept their experiences in the nightmarish tunnel sportingly and move ahead, rid of the claustrophobia that must have set into them.”
She further said that quite possibly, these workers, on being rescued, may develop a persistent fear of being left alone in enclosed spaces. “The only way to help them come out of such claustrophobic tendencies is to provide them with counselling sessions. Attending a single or a couple of such sessions will not suffice. They must be persuaded to attend such sessions for a considerable period of time and this will facilitate a comprehensive trauma recovery process,” she added.
Speaking on the same matter, a clinical psychologist, Dr Pratibha Sharma said that the trapped workers undergoing agonising experiences for days, unsure of what is lying ahead of them, are most likely to experience long-term effects known as PTSD on being rescued. “This disorder may cause recurring panic attacks and may even negatively change their behaviour towards others. The government must see to it that these workers attend counselling sessions regularly after being rescued. This may help them rid themselves of the phobias and disorders that are most likely to afflict them after they are evacuated out of the tunnel, she added.
