What mental health activities had MSF been undertaking until then?
MSF was one of the first international nongovernmental organizations to be on the ground in Aceh and from the outset we had trained psychologists accompanying our mobile clinics. That way they could be present during the medical consultations for people who were more in emotional distress. Fortunately, MSF had previous experience of running mental health programs in Indonesia and so had a network of experienced, national psychologists we could call on. The aftershocks that continued for the first few weeks following the tsunami further increased the panic so as well as accompanying the mobile clinics, we approached community leaders, religious figures, teachers and medical staff and explained to them the cause of the tsunami and these quakes – this was information people were particularly desperate for – and the effect such an event can have on people’s behaviour. We taught them how to recognize classic symptoms and the most basic techniques for dealing with these – breathing, relaxati
