Three years after the tsunami tragedy hit Thailand's Andaman coastal provinces, some young survivors are still suffering from stress, while some mentally-disturbed adults have turned to alcohol to suppress their anxiety disorders, a senior Thai public health official said Wednesday, which marked the third anniversary of the disaster.
Thai News Agency quoted Director-General Somchai Chakrabhand of the Mental Health Department as saying that some children still had nightmares, awakened in the night and shut themselves from the outside world, while adults who could not get rid of the terrifying memory turned to using alcoholic drinks or drugs.
In the first two years after the Dec. 26, 2004 tsunami, Thai and American health professionals had surveyed 800 survivors on their posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) -- an anxiety disorder after exposure to a terrifying event, and found that 13 percent of them remained suffering from stress. Another survey six months later found the stress reduced to seven percent.
However, anxiety disorders have remained in some survivors, he said, adding that health officials will conduct another survey early next year.
Thailand's six Andaman coastal provinces -- Phang Nga, Krabi, Phuket, Ranong, Trang and Satun -- were hit by the unprecedented tsunami on Dec. 26, 2004, with some 5,400 people, including more than 2,400 foreigners, losing their lives in the billows and over 2,800 people missing.
Source:Xinhua
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