About 35 percent of people exposed to terrorist attacks may develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) but latest psychotherapy technique of eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing (EMDR) can prove very effective in the treatment of PTSD.
Dr Derek P Farrell, a mental health practitioner from University of Birmingham, UK, expressed these views during a three-day workshop organised for mental health workers at University of Health Sciences (UHS) here on Monday. Dr Farrell who is an EMDR Europe approved consultant and trauma therapist, was invited by EMDR Association of Pakistan to conduct a workshop for mental health workers of the country.
More than 20 mental health experts from various institutions of the country are participating in the workshop. Dr Saleem Tareen, a consultant psychiatrist from Ireland, Colonel Dr Shahid Rashid, Colonel Dr Farrukh, Dr Sadia and other experts also spoke on the occasion.
Dr Farrell maintained that EMDR was a form of psychotherapy that was developed to resolve symptoms resulting from disturbing and unresolved life experiences. "EMDR is a structured approach to address past, present, and future aspects of disturbing memories," he added.
The approach was first developed in 1987 to resolve the trauma-related disorders resulting from distressing event, such as earthquake, child abuse, war or bomb blasts etc. Addressing the participants of the workshop, Dr Farrell said that training of Pakistani mental health workers in EMDR technique started after the earthquake of 8th October 2005.
"It is basically a transfer of knowledge and technology to Pakistan because our own experience is that the concrete therapies like EMDR are more effective in Pakistan than other psychological therapies," he maintained. President EMDR Pakistan, Dr Rashid Qayyum said that around 72 mental health workers and 6 facilitators had so far been trained in EMDR technique through a series of workshops held in Abbotabad, Rawalpindi and Karachi.
With an increase in geo-political crises, terrorism and increasing threat of natural disasters, due to global environmental changes, psychological trauma services in Pakistan needed to follow a plan if they want to address the ground realities, he added. UHS Vice Chancellor Professor M H Mubbashar said that disasters, whether natural or man-made had become the most challenging issue of the 21st century.
"Pakistan is especially vulnerable to the fallout of psychological trauma, because of the current and current law and order situation and political and economic conditions," he said. He underlined the need for raising awareness about psychological trauma and its treatment which, he believed, had become increasingly important in Pakistan but was largely neglected.
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