The lingering ghost of ruins: The mental health issues of the rescuers
Whenever there is an accident, we see a group of people running to and from with great alacrity in an attempt to help the survivors. Despite their attempts, many of the injured people die while others get a second chance at their lives. Have we ever thought about how these memories affect the rescuers later in their lives?
It is dark inside. Despite the scorching sun in the sky, nothing seems visible as you are straining every nerve to make way for someone else who is stuck in between the ruins caused by a sudden collapse.
The torch is your only hope as you see someone very near to you trying hard to cling to her lifeforce. You call your creator, imploring Him to help you gather more energy in your two hands so that you can move away the debris - the only barrier between you and the asphyxiating lady.
You let out a long sigh of despair, caused by your helplessness against the will of nature. Despite desperate attempts, you suddenly observe that the eyes of the trapped lady are no more beaming with hope.
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With the mouth agape with incredulity, you feel numb and disoriented. This is how probably the rescuers feel when they fail to help any injured man survive the devastation caused by a natural or man-made disaster.
Whenever there is an accident or devastation, we see a group of people (rescuers) running to and from with great alacrity in an attempt to help the survivors. Despite their attempts, many of the injured people die while others get a second chance at their lives.
While rescuing people, the rescuers definitely get to observe so many macabre things as they see people hanging between life and death. Have we ever thought about how these memories affect the rescuers later in their lives?
What kind of changes do they undergo? Can they hold up well after the rescue operation comes to an end? Do the ghosts of the people you fail to rescue haunt you?
The truth is probably beyond our understanding. Just consider it from a subjective point of view. When we fail, we definitely feel aggrieved. Again, when we see a nightmare, we feel flabbergasted and a gloomy feeling descends upon us.
Now consider this – how do the rescuers who often try to manoeuvre through the ruins to save people feel when they fail to save someone and see him/her dying in front of him?
The feeling is definitely not good – such memories, just like our nightmares, keep haunting them for years. So, very naturally, there must be some serious impacts on the mental health of the rescuers.
We often ignore this fact and fail to take care of the mental health of the rescuers. Mostly, the issue of mental care for the rescuers volunteering during a disaster or doing it professionally skips our radar.
Owing to our apathy, many of the volunteers/rescuers fall on their own swords. This is what happened with Nawshad Hasan Himu, a young man who volunteered at the Rana Plaza collapse in 2013 to rescue people trapped inside.
Himu committed suicide by setting himself on fire back in 2019 on the day of sixth anniversary of the Rana Plaza tragedy. When journalists approached his mother, his mother affirmed that Himu used to harp on about the people trapped inside the debris of the building.
Who knows how heavy a toll the cries of the trapped people had on his mental health? Just like Himu, many others joined the rescue operations (both professional rescuers and volunteers) during the tragedy, but do we know how all of them are holding up now?
Are those memories of ruins consuming their hearts away and pushing them over the edge? The answer is a simple "no".
As a society, we have failed to take notice of what goes on in the brains of the rescuers. But, science has not committed the same mistake. According to science, traumatic experiences can affect how the brain operates in multi-faceted ways, and those mostly leave impacts on 3 specific parts of the brain - prefrontal cortex (thinking centre), anterior cingulate cortex (emotion regulation centre) and amygdala (fear centre).
Consequently, after any catastrophic event, the rescuers may not only feel occupied with those haunting memories, but develop a sense of fear in their minds subconsciously. Such a tendency, of course, comes with long-term knock-on consequences on their mental health.
And when these traumatic experiences are allowed to hover around, the thinking and emotional regulation centres get deactivated whereas the fear centre becomes overactivated, instilling a feeling of constant threat in the mind.
The professional rescuers and volunteers go through this kind of changes on the downlow. As a by-product, they may start playing it close to their vests and keep reeling from the tragic happenings.
And we, as usual, fail to notice it, which is more dangerous. As if such people are left alone, it exacerbates their mental condition. As when they cast a wistful look back at what happened in front of them, it puts them into a more terrifying state.
We need to talk about this both on an individual level and at the state level. There should be an institutional approach to address this. We cannot just let the pall of gloom descend upon the rescuers who put their lives on the line just to save others.
We have to recognise the fact they also need support. They deserve care and even rehabilitation facilities (in case of serious mental health deterioration) in the later period of their lives to stay fine.
Moreover, a few days after any rescue operation is carried out, there should be consultation arrangements for the rescuers with psychiatrists so that they can open up about their feelings and it can be determined if they need help to assuage the pain they are going through.
On an individual level, the family members of the rescuers including volunteers need to keep tabs on them in order to understand if there is something wrong with their behaviour. Meanwhile, near ones must help the rescuers feeling incapable of managing their emotions or trauma.
Life keeps throwing curve balls at us, but we have to move on. Realising the significance of these words might help those souls roll with the punches and come out of the abysmal mental situation they are sucked into.
Md Morshedul Alam Mohabat is a philomath who likes to delve deeper into the human psyche with a view to exploring the factors that influence it.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and views of The Business Standard.
