Long after a wound heals, the scar remains. And for victims of bomb blasts and natural disasters, the psychological scars can hamper a return to normality in the long term.

Less than a month after the 2006 Yogyakarta earthquake brought down his family home in Imogiri, the cuts and bruises on Aslikin’s thighs had healed. But it took a lot longer for him to stop dreading the feeling of the earth shaking.

“For several months after the quake, I still jumped whenever there was a tremor, even if it was just the sound of my mother’s juicer or the vibrations of a truck passing on the street outside my house,” said the 25-year-old, whose whole ceramic business was destroyed by the natural disaster.

For Aslikin, it was easier to restart his business than to erase the trauma that he suffered.

Similarly, the wound on the left arm of Wahyu Adiartono, a victim of the 2003 Marriott bombing, healed much faster than the psychological damage that he suffered.

Wahyu now heads the Lima Delapan Foundation, an organization that brings together surviving victims and families of victims of the bomb blast.

“We don’t really have special programs for psychological trauma, but we share what we can share to help each other,” Wahyu said, commenting on the recent explosions in Mega Kuningan. “Because it’s as important as the healing of the [physical] wounds.”

All sorts of events can shake up one’s life. Doctors can treat the physical damage and charity groups can help people get back on their feet financially, but recovering from the psychological effects of trauma is not as easy as waking up from a nightmare.

For those who need assistance with psychological recovery, several trauma centers have been set up to lend an ear and help the healing of the invisible scars.

“Everyone has natural coping mechanisms [to deal with] psychological trauma,” said Nirmala Ika, a psychologist from the Pulih Foundation trauma center. “Those with a more easygoing personality are able to return to normal faster on their own, but there are also those who need help.”

Founded in 2002, the Pulih Foundation provides counseling for people suffering from all kinds of psychological trauma, including those who survived the 2004 Aceh tsunami, staff at a hotel where a bomb exploded and victims of domestic abuse.

With three full-time counselors and dozens of other on-call volunteers and partners, the Pulih Foundation provides group support, one-on-one counseling and online counseling.

Untreated psychological trauma, psychologist Irma S. Martam said, can lead to depression, paranoia, sleeping disorders and problems in concentrating. Sufferers’ mental state can also be affected by traumatic events, leading to them becoming reclusive or having severe mood swings.

Sharing emotions and experiences can help those who suffer to get to the core of the problem and start the recovery process.

“But, for disaster victims, it’s not that easy to help them open up,” Ika said. “Suffering from a trauma after disastrous events is normal; what is important is how one copes with it in the long run.”

In countries like Indonesia where counseling with a psychologist is not part of the culture, victims are sometimes more comfortable talking with their friends and relatives. In these cases, Ika added, counselors are just facilitators in the psychological healing process.

“Problems vary from one individual to another. Some do suffer from psychosomatic symptoms, some have problems getting back to work [at the Marriott] because of having to see the site where the traumatic event took place,” Ika explained.

Several others, she said of the Marriott bombing victims, were having problems coping with the psychological trauma because over their families’ anxieties about them returning to work at a former bombsite.

“Support from their closest family members is crucial in helping them recover from trauma,” Ika said, adding that peer support was also effective in helping victims of disaster to open up and overcome their stress.

Admittedly, the media rarely – if ever – helps with the recovery process, as people are bombarded with images that remind them of the traumatic event.

While dealing with individual trauma needs a careful psychological approach, helping people pick up the pieces as a group requires community-based psychosocial recovery methods.

Natural disasters such as the Aceh tsunami not only left mental scars on individuals, but also ignited community problems because of the relocation of victims. In its work in Neuheun village in Aceh, the Pulih Foundation uses discussion forums and art and sports events to help build relationships between locals and relocated residents.

The bombings in Bali also left deep communal mental scars. To help deal with this, the Kemanusiaan Ibu Pertiwi Foundation (YKIP) adopted a unique healing approach for the community as a whole through leather puppet performances.

By sending out a message of working against negativity, YKIP, along with other institutions under the Bali Recovery Group, showed that trauma recovery could be achieved through art.

“We will soon start again a trauma counseling program for children,” YKIP officer Rai Krisna said.

Children do require extra attention and a special approach in post-disaster trauma, child psychologist Seto Mulyadi said.

“By nature, they are more vulnerable and psychological trauma at an early age can have a long-term impact on their lives,” Seto said.

In cooperation with the National Commission for Children’s Protection and the Health Ministry, Seto set up a child trauma center for victims of the Situ Gintung dam collapse at the Kerta Mukti temporary shelter. The center provided a space for children for the first few months after the disaster.

“As much as possible, during the physical recovery process, children should be distracted from the grim images and memory of the incident,” Seto explained.

For this reason, they were helped using games, songs, outbound activities, sports or art, he added. “Drawing, for example, can help children express what they cannot express verbally.”

Some trauma centers

    University of Indonesia Crisis Center
    Depok Campus, Faculty of Psychology
    +62 7270004 ext. 1503

     Wisma Kerta Mukti
    Jl. Kerta Mukti, Situ Gintung, Tangerang

     Pulih Foundation
    Jl. Teluk Peleng 63A, Komp. AL,
    Rawa Bambu, Jakarta
    +62 78842580, 888 1816850

     Kemanusiaan Ibu Pertiwi Foundation (YKIP)
    Jl. Kediri No. 38, Kuta-Bali
    +62 361 759544

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