Tsunami survivors remain stressed

BANGKOK: Three years after the tsunami tragedy made its unwelcome visit to Thailand's coastal provinces, some young survivors are still suffering from stress.

A number of mentally-disturbed adults have even turned to alcohol to suppress their anxiety disorders, according to a senior Thai public health official.

Director-General Somchai Chakrabhand of the Mental Health Department said today some children still had bad dreams, awakened in the night and shut themselves from the outside world, while adults who could hardly forget to the terrifying event turned to using alcoholic drinks or drugs.

In the first two years after the 2004 tsunami, Thai and American health professionals had surveyed 800 survivors on their posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), an anxiety disorder after exposure to a terrifying event, and found that 13 per cent of them remained suffering from stress.

Another survey six months later found the stress reduced to seven per cent.

However, anxiety disorders have remained in some survivors, he said, adding that health officials will conduct another survey early next year.

The country's six southern provinces were hit by the December 2004 tsunami which killed nearly 5,400 people in Thailand, including 1,953 foreigners.