Thought Field Therapy & The 2004 Tsunami in Thailand
The Trauma of Tsunami
(A short article written for a newspaper shortly after the event)
Much has been televised and written about the physical devastation that was caused by the Tsunami disaster on 26 December 2004. This writer is committed to bringing to awareness the equally devastating effects that have been suffered psychologically. I am an Englishman with years of experience treating psychological issues, many of which involved trauma to one degree or another. I recently returned from the Provinces of Phuket and Phang-gna, Thailand, where I initialised the setting up of the ‘Emergency Trauma Treatment and Counselling Centre’. I was lucky to be able to help due to being trained in the breakthrough therapy methods of ‘Callaghan Techniques-Thought Field Therapy’ (TFT); I believe I am the first and only here in Thailand.
This is not an advert for ‘TFT’ but I will quickly explain that it can give immediate relief and very often CURE most or all symptoms connected to ANY emotional or psychological problem. Literally, where other methods take months or even years of therapy, this system gives instant measurable results. This is no more important than in the case of trauma as many studies have shown that the long-term affects of trauma can be significantly reduced if it is treated early. The main problem with this theory is that in most cases of trauma, the physical issues are addressed first, and it is only later, sometimes much later, that the psychological issues arise. Knowing this was why I flew down to Phuket to offer this so important and needed help.
Who was affected? I can only answer that absolutely everybody was affected by the trauma of the Tsunami. The obvious were the Thai and Foreign survivors. Then there were the relatives that arrived to try to identify severely damaged bodies or search for their missing. However, some of the most strongly affected were actually the voluntary workers that were involved in the rescue operations. There were so many of these people, most of them were young, perhaps on a short Christmas holiday or as a ‘gap-year’ from their lives as students. Normal people, which were suddenly employed into doing very abnormal activities. The next group were the other voluntary workers, nurses, counsellors calling foreign relatives, or co-ordinating the victim support centres. Finally, another group I worked with were journalists. These people seem to be on the outside of the help groups but of course they are searching for the stories and pictures that carry the most weight, and so inevitably, they also receive the same weight in psychological damage. One point to make clear here is that there were also many professional people involved that had previous experience in different fields of disaster or traumatic events, but many explained that nothing before could really prepare them for what they were experiencing in Phuket and Phang-gna. I admit that I also felt that way.
What were the psychological affects? All of the different groups I worked with seemed to share common patterns of trauma. The immediate response from the survivors was shock but they were solely fixed upon looking for missing loved ones or just helping others in any way they could. TFT removes trauma in layers, very much like peeling an onion. The next layer I saw was complete shock, where the victim does not really communicate. After this they feel immense tension, closely followed by extreme anxiety. Once we reduced these phenomena, the feelings of loss and loneliness arrived. After dealing with this, the victim is concerned about their future, feeling very uncertain. The final level that I managed to get to was one where they are thinking logically again. In this level they are also able to recall and talk about their experience of when the disaster happened. The rescue workers arrived to me feeling very vague and almost immediately began to break down emotionally. After relieving this they often reported feeling disconnected from their bodies. Once we dealt with that, fear and anxiety set in. In the next treatment, as we eradicate the anxiety (which is partly fuelled by adrenaline) then the person often expressed immediate exhaustion. Then they tended to have questions of why had they volunteered for such horrendous duties, why had they been allowed? This aroused anger, but then also guilt about if they had done enough. Many of these people had worked long hours for four or five days, with little sleep or food. Finally, I was able to bring them back to a sense of content. Their appetite returned and they were able to plan their next movements back to their normal lives. The nurses and journalists seemed to suffer depression and guilt, often felt as physical pain in the body.
These were the results of the people that I was fortunate to be able to work with. These were only a handful compared to the total number involved. There are so many that have just had to try and move on into a new style of life that has been brought upon them so suddenly and uninvited. Fathers left to care alone for their young children. Mothers having to bring up their young without a source of income. So many children orphaned, with no understanding of reason. Some were left physically disabled.
Long-term affects of Trauma – Accompanying the aforementioned, will soon be other psychological symptoms to deal with. Insomnia, fear of sleeping alone or in the dark. There will be reoccurring nightmares, visualisations, imagined noises, vivid recollections of pictures and sounds. Some will develop social dysfunctions, relationship problems. Some will be extremely sensitive to loud noises or running water, develop severe phobias, especially of water and death. Some will never want to fly or travel abroad… the list is endless. Furthermore, the longer the person lives with these symptoms, the more they believe they cannot be helped. For the foreigners in the western world of conventional medicine, many will simply finish their lives under the control of sedative style medication. This is useful in allowing them to function to a point and be able to return to work etc, but they will never be the same people that they were before. There friends and family will see the difference and will try to help and understand, but this is also an issue, as the victim feels that nobody can really appreciate what they have and are continuing to go through.
Therefore, I guess my message to you as a reader of this article, is to please be aware of this part of the disaster. The part that continues on long after the news coverage has finished. Thank you if you gave money or clothing, but now please consider supporting the cause for helping heal the mental damage of such a massive disaster. Many of you will be foreign reading this article. Many of you may now, or in time, have contact with somebody who has been affected by the Tsunami. As a small favour to me, and possibly a big favour to them, please mention that you heard of a therapy that can provide significant help with the affects of trauma. CT-TFT is available privately in most countries of the world. The best way to locate it is probably via the internet. There is a charity that has provided assistance in trauma-treatment in such events as the World Trade Centre, Nairobi Embassy bombing, and the Kosovo War aftermath.