Long months of torrential rain and flash floods have devastated northern Pakistan, especially Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan. More than 860 people have died and over 1,100 have been injured, with many deaths caused by sudden flash floods and collapsing houses. Thousands of homes, schools and health facilities have been destroyed, leaving families displaced and children’s futures imperiled. Survivors face acute stress reactions, helplessness, shock, survivor’s guilt, sleep problems and intrusive memories. Without proper support, these reactions can deepen into depression, prolonged grief or post-traumatic stress disorder. Immediate humanitarian aid and mental health services are urgently needed.
For a 10-year-old, the loss is proving hard to grasp. It has been four days since I last saw my home, says Ahsan. He has not yet understood that the floods completely swept away his house in Dogoro Basha village in Shigar, Pakistan. His confusion is part of the devastating aftermath of long months of rain and floods that have devastated thousands of families in the country's northern provinces and left more than 860 people dead so far.
For Muhammad Shareef, 19, a university student living away from home in Islamabad, the distance does not help. His home in Dogoro Basha was also destroyed, and his family is now displaced. My house and land are gone. My mother is now living in a tent. The only thing I have left standing is my father's grave [marker], he says. The school has been destroyed. The only dispensary was swept away.
This is not only a physical disaster but a mental health crisis, says Shan-e-Zainab, a Karachi-based clinical psychologist and mental health trainer. After a flood, people frequently suffer acute stress reactions, helplessness, shock and terror. Many develop survivor's guilt, sleep problems, intrusive memories or overwhelming sadness after losing homes, jobs or loved ones, she says. Without proper support, these reactions often deepen into depression, prolonged grief or post-traumatic stress disorder.
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