Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

Signs of depression noted among American Samoa tsunami survivors

Posted at 03:26 on 10 November, 2009 UTC

The United States Public Health Services says it’s seeing signs of depression, anxiety and substance abuse in American Samoa in the aftermath of the tsunami.

The service has provided a team of clinical psychologists and psychiatrists to help the Department of Human and Social Services and Health Department offer counselling.

The team’s regional emergency coordinator, Dr Stephen Formansky, says they’re seeing signs that are typical after a disaster, as people cope with concerns about safety, housing and water.

He says children sometimes describe their distress as physical symptoms.

“The younger ones can’t verbalise very well so they put the symptoms back into their bodies, so they get tummy aches and headaches and stuff like that. So we are seeing hearing some of that. The older kids, what we are hearing a bit about is kids who afraid to go back into the water, and kids who are taking different routes to school to avoid the water.”

Dr Formansky says the signs of lingering trauma are not confined to those who lost family members.