PTSD the burden of humanity

PTSD is a burden for humanity, and every nation must deal with it or ignore it at their peril.

Uganda

Nine Million Ugandans Mentally Ill

AT LEAST 9 million out of the 29 million Ugandans are suffering from some form of mental disorder and are not fully productive, it has been revealed.

The disorders include; post traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety, epilepsy and schizophrenia.


The ailments disrupt peoples' thinking and emotions, relations with people, daily functioning -and this often results in an inability to cope with the ordinary demands of life.

This was revealed yesterday by Dr Fred Kigozi, the director of Butabika Mental Hospital. He was speaking at a symposium to mark the World Mental Health Day in Kampala.

The theme of the symposium was 'Mental Health in a Changing World: Mental Health and the Impact of culture'.

"The number of citizens in Uganda who are moving from normal to abnormal status is increasing. Several studies have shown that 20 - 30 per cent of the Ugandan population suffer from common mental disorders," he said.

He said mentally ill people are unable to perform their duties and because of this, they can not contribute to the GDP (Growth Domestic Product) of Uganda."

Out of these, he said, at least one per cent have severe mental disorders like major depression, schizophrenia and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
go here for the rest
http://allafrica.com/stories/200802270959.html

Israel

Terror leaves 42% of children with PTSD

By Gideon Alon

Some 42 percent of Israeli children suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), of which 15 percent have a moderate to severe version of the syndrome, Dr. Avital Laufer of Tel Aviv University told the Knesset Committee on the Rights of Children yesterday.

The committee was discussing the effects of the terror attacks of the past 32 months on children. Laufer's findings were based on a study of some 3,000 children aged 13 to 15, from both sides of the Green Line. Some 70 percent of the children said that the terror attacks had had a direct impact on their lives, causing them to abandon or avoid certain activities.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?item
No=300638&contrassID=2&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y

Iraq

PTSD in Iraqis, children: The Lancet, "Mental Health of Iraqi Children", by Ali Razokhi, September 2, 2006.
40% of Iraqi professionals: Brookings Institution, "Iraq Index", page 24, January 2007.
http://www.motherjones.com/news/featurex/2007/03/sources.html

02/27/08 IRIN: High rates of trauma, sickness among Iraqi refugees
Many of the estimated 70,000-150,000 Iraqi refugees in Egypt have developed serious psychological and stress-related illnesses, including cardiac problems, according to Ahlam Tobia, a medical doctor who works with refugees in Cairo.

Lebanon

Researchers say 2006 war left many children in targeted areas with emotional scars
Daily Star staff
Thursday, February 14, 2008
A new study issued on Wednesday showed that 14.4 percent of children and teenagers in South Lebanon and Beirut's southern suburbs suffered from war-related psychological symptoms after the summer 2006 war with Israel ended, adding that 15.4 percent of teenagers might suffer from post-traumatic stress disorders.
http://www.myantiwar.org/view/143679.html

Canada

PTSD Program Breaks New Ground in Canada
Joan Arehart-Treichel
Canada offers an inpatient treatment program for adults with posttraumatic stress disorder. It is based on the Sanctuary Model developed by Philadelphia psychiatrist Sandra Bloom, M.D.

A Canadian who has posttraumatic stress disorder might be wise to head to Guelph, Ontario. Canada’s only inpatient treatment program for PTSD—the "Program for Traumatic Stress Recovery"—can be found there at Homewood Health Center.

The program, which is underwritten by Canada’s universal health insurance system, runs six weeks. It has been in existence for a decade and, to date, has treated some 3,000 PTSD patients, from child-abuse survivors and motor-accident victims to peacekeepers who have witnessed atrocities.

Further, as PTSD is being increasingly recognized by health care professionals in Canada, more and more Canadian PTSD patients are being referred to the program. In fact, PTSD patients from other countries are also welcome to participate in it.

http://pn.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/39/6/59

Pick any country on the planet and PTSD is a problem. Much like global changes lives across national borders and continents, PTSD knows no boundaries. It requires one thing, a human exposed to a traumatic event. It does not know age. It does not know race. It does not know wealth or poverty or social status at all. It does not know language. It knows what strikes humans in their core. It hits with a warning, the event itself. PTSD is humanities burden and as traumatic events spiral out of control from nation to nation, humanity had better step up and defeat this enemy with the only weapon known to be able to defeat it, knowledge. Once people are aware what is wrong with them, they can seek help to heal. Ignorance is more deadly than a bullet because this enemy does not just hit the target but hits the entire family.