‘What is happening to me, my heart starts beating fast every time I lie down!?’ someone asked me while sitting down during a psychosocial support session after the 25th of April, the day the 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit Nepal, shook the mountains, shook the buildings we were in, shook our body, made us fall, shook our heart. During more than 50 talks I had with Nepalese and internationals in Kathmandu and in the district of Sindhupalchowk, I realized that the fear among the people was and is immense. The word trauma or post-traumatic stress disorder would be common to use while describing one´s own experience of the earthquake and the reactions to it. International media, maybe well-intended but not thought through, created awareness about the situation in Nepal by stressing Nepalese society would have to suffer from psychosocial problems from now on.

The short and long-term response towards the earthquake therefore has to have skilled people who can stimulate those recovery environments, speak the local languages, who work hand in hand with nutrition and shelter experts, are able to organize long-term psychosocial support

No doubt, the earthquake and its continuous aftershocks had and still have effects on us as individuals, families, communities and Nepal as a society. However, with the support of family and friends, reactions are usually moderate and decline after some time. Only some people experience these symptoms for a longer time and some develop long-term psychosocial symptoms and need further professional help. The reaction of someone to a disaster depends on factors such as severity of the event, age and the level of marginalization a person experienced before the disaster. Children and elderly people are especially vulnerable in crisis situations. What wasn’t written about in the print media is that there is something called resilience which describes the capacity of a person to cope with stress or challenging situations. Individuals who are resilient are also experiencing negative emotions or fear; however, they are capable of developing ideas on changing difficult situations and will be able to balance positive and negative emotions.

In the case of Nepal, the number of individuals who transformed their feelings into action towards the wellbeing of others was and is enormous. They have shown how some aspects of first aid regarding psychosocial support works. They went to their neighbors, communities, from the city of Kathmandu to remote places, places where they have probably never been before. Their action had an immense hidden value, besides the blankets and tarpaulins they brought. They showed that people stand together; they distributed solidarity and hope, something that might last beyond the blanket and the tent which might be gone with the monsoon. However, the aftermath for many, in particular on those who have been experiencing inequality and poverty prior to the event, are often beyond words and much more as well as long-term support is needed, also regarding psychosocial support.

In general, not having one’s basic needs fulfilled and being left out of the distribution machinery dramatically increases the level of psychosocial distress. Some people in remote areas or certain groups of population who have particular needs or cannot access emergency distribution sides easily did not see any of the help organized by different state and non-state actors. Probably some also did not receive support until now. If relief materials do not reach people, beyond those it is not only the relief material that doesn’t reach but it is also a missing out on this important message, that message of not being alone, being valued and supported. In a culture where the wellbeing of a whole family often weighs more than individual situations it appears to me that it must be even more difficult to make a case out of one’s own experience.

It is more important that proper support mechanisms are in place, not only services which clients can go to but people who are reaching out to those who need support. Experts are needed who access the needs and are capable of offering professional support if needed. Not everyone is capable of asking for help or even knows where to ask for it. In any way, psychosocial support shall come as an integrated part of any emergency response; in fact emergency response has a psychosocial component as such. Fulfilling the basic needs such as provision of medical aid, food, water and shelter will contribute to coping with the situation on psychosocial level. Similarly important is to be able to communicate with loved ones, to know that they are OK and to share information about their own situation. This goes beyond the immediate days after the earthquake. When the ground shakes beneath us, the ground our relationships are built on are the ones that keep us grounded.

The short and long-term response towards the earthquake therefore has to have skilled people who can stimulate those recovery environments, speak the local languages, who work hand in hand with nutrition and shelter experts, are able to organize long-term psychosocial support and train others in psychosocial first aid. People who understand that individuals and communities have own resources and that it is utmost crucial to involve them and let them take decisions.

Hence stimulation of coping strategies will come from within individuals and communities and will help them to get back power over what happened to them.

The writer is a sociologist and social worker with a focus on clinical social work who has worked in human rights protection and development cooperation in Nepal for more than three years. k.hermsen@gmx.de