'If I close my eyes I will see the accident flash before me': Survivors of Odisha train tragedy show PTSD symptoms

It has been over a week since the Odisha triple train crash claimed over 200 lives and injured several others. While many of the injured people are still recovering from their physical injuries, around 40 patients in SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack have shown symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). PTSD is a mental condition that is triggered after someone witnesses or undergoes a terrifying event in their lives. It is most commonly diagnosed in war veterans. Dr Jashobanta Mahapatra, associate professor of the Clinical Psychology Department at the hospital told PTI that given the number of cases, the hospital has started counselling the survivors. “Many were found to be severely stressed, fearful, panicked at times and silent. We are counselling them and talking to them along with their family members,” he said. He added that the hospital has set up four teams to counsel the survivors. “Each team comprises a psychiatrist, a psychologist, a social worker and one or two members of the patient’s family,” he said. Patients waking up in the middle of the night Nurses and other hospital staff recalled how patients woke up from their sleep after dreaming about the train accident. A nurse said that hospital workers are keeping a constant vigil on such patients. A 23-year-old man, whose both hands and legs have been broken in the accident, fails to sleep during the day or at night. “He fears to close his eyes as scenes of the accident flash before him,” a doctor said, adding that the man was rescued from under a seat where he was for three hours. Another survivor who lost his close friend to the accident often wakes up calling out his deceased friend’s name. A doctor even said that some patients just stare at the walls.

Of the 105 patients being treated at the hospital, three have completely lost their legs, while others have broken their legs and limbs and some have sustained injury on their spinal cord.

“These patients cry on seeing their condition while some others laugh hysterically,” another doctor said, adding that these symptoms can be cured with time.

Claiming that all the patients are stable, Dr Mahapatra said he is optimistic that each survivor will recover from the mental stress while adding that some other sensitive patients may require some more time than others.

With inputs from PTI

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