Nishtha Shrestha

A major disaster was averted in the recent times. The mishap with a Buddha Air aircraft brought both praise and criticism. Amidst this scrutiny, one aspect that has failed to get attention is the mental health of the passengers. The level of distress experienced was visible in the videos taken by the passengers as well as in the interviews taken after the incident. There were news about the crew being given a leave until the completion of the investigation but no reports came forth about what was done to help the passengers process the near death experience.

A trauma in simple language is any experience that overwhelms a person. Using this definition, it is clear that the passengers underwent a traumatic incident. While it is true that not everyone who experiences such an event will show serious effects, it is the duty of the concerned authorities to monitor.

There is a lapse in the protocol which could be because of the lack of awareness of trauma and the ignorance towards mental health in general. It is the common mentality that with time things will settle down and this is the approach we take whenever we face a challenge.

But in case of near death experiences such as this, one cannot be brushed off as easily as the everyday obstacles we face in our lives. It is difficult to know how individuals react to trauma. Even till today if we discuss about the 2015 earthquake, the responses are varied. Some have moved on while others do not wish to remember the event.

The pandemic is also another major crisis where the psychological effects have been different based on a lot of factors. One can argue that the intensity of the flight mishap, earthquake and the pandemic differ and the mishap cannot be included in the list of traumas.

However, this is the main issue about trauma. It is difficult to know if an event was traumatic or not until we ask the concerned person. This is why having a counsellor on board along with the team of police officers, ambulance and other technicians is a must. The physical safety of the passengers is the first priority but after this the psychological needs also should be addressed. The reports said that for many on board they had already given up hope of surviving the incident.

If a counsellor was present that day maybe those interested could have shared their fears. Even better would have been the option of monitoring the passengers after a few days to check if there were any psychological issues that appeared after the incident. It is time we normalise the presence of counsellors in a crisis situation. We have learnt both from the earthquake and the pandemic, the importance of mental health yet we fail to look into these details when a situation arises.

Maybe the airline did make an attempt which was not published. If this is the case, then such kind of news also needs to be widely circulated so that authorities could make it mandatory for counsellors to be a part of crisis teams making it easier for the public to seek counselling. It is always better if we can avoid a disaster but due to its unpredictable nature, we can only stay prepared at all levels.