Gelisim News

Referring to the fact that people can suffer mental trauma due to a death or death threat, or a serious injury or sexual assault, Psychiatrist Dr. Tan from Istanbul Gelisim University stated: “Depending on the current situation, if there are the psychological symptoms such as repeated occurrence in the mind, nightmares, avoiding situations reminiscent of the event, over-excitability, being alert, restlessness, anxiety, nervousness, and these have been occurring for more than a month and their life quality and functionality impair, we can consider these as post-traumatic stress disorder.”
 

Stating that earthquakes also pose risks for various anxiety disorders, depression, short psychotic attacks and alcohol-drug addiction, Dr. Tan also gave information about the risky groups.

Mentioning that not everyone will be affected equally by a trauma, Psychiatrist Tan said: “Perceived severity of the event is the most important risk indicator. Those who are left under the wreckage, those who have lost their relatives, and those who have damaged the house have a higher risk than compared to those who have not.
 

Tan continued the speech as follows:
 

“Those who have previously experienced trauma, have a physical disability and chronic illness that makes their life seriously difficult, those who cannot get social support, those who have difficulty to explain or suppress their feelings, and those who feel intense guilt about the incident are riskier to get sick in the future.”
 

Pointing out that men are exposed to more traumatic stress factors throughout their lives, Dr. Tan said that women are at least 2 times more at risk of getting sick considering the rate of illness.

Expressing that it is necessary not to hesitate to talk about the events, to understand and share feelings about the events, Tan said: “Being human is not a stand-alone situation, but it is possible only with the presence of the other. For this reason, one needs another to recover from trauma. Do not hesitate to get help from your environment, friends and relatives. Ask questions and try to find answers until you are convinced and your trust is rebuilt. The person may feel embarrassed for his survival, feel guilty for not being able to help others or directly considering himself responsible for the event. These feelings are somewhat acceptable, but when they become more intense and severe, they pose a risk to the disease. The person may tend to avoid feelings, to suppress or deny what happened and what they feel. Everything that is suppressed returns, and even because it is return, it can be worse than it was originally. There are cases (late-onset type) that appear to be unaffected by trauma 6 months later and are much more difficult to treat.”

Psychiatrist Dr. Emre Tan stating that getting sick is not related to power and mind, and that it can affect almost everyone, added: “Get psychiatric-psychological help when you realize that your mood is getting worse and your life is disrupted. Trauma is contagious. Even if they are not directly exposed to trauma, those who witnessed the event, those who watched in the media and especially those in the rescue team may also be traumatized. Information, training and preventive studies should be done on this subject and if necessary, they should be included in the treatment process.”