DEALING WITH THE PSYCHOLOGICAL AFTERMATH OF A TERRORIST ATTACK - Part 1

In the immediate aftermath of the ChCh mosque attacks on 15/3, a group of about 7 Muslim psychiatrists of Pakistani origin got together and volunteered to help become a bridge between the ChCh Muslim community and the local Mental Health Services (MHS). At least one of us visited ChCh fortnightly and provided input initially in the planning meetings to provide mental health services to the victims, and later to be present at the time of the psycho-educational groups that were started to provide immediate screening and referral for people with severe symptoms. Our last visit was towards the end of 2019.

I am not sure how much real contribution we could make, partly because of all of us being based in North island, and most having full-time jobs. However, there were many lessons we learnt as part of participating in this process which I intended to share with colleagues and friends. I was hoping to do it around the first anniversary of the attack but then Covid-19 turned the whole world upside down. I waited hoping things would normalize again but now am not sure if we will ever go back to what passed for ‘normal’ till 2019, so I guess this is as good a time as any.

This write-up is only a means of sharing lessons learnt, and is mostly based on our own personal observations, perceptions and opinions, and should be read as such. It is not intended to be a critique of any organisations or institutions as, just like Covid-19, NZ didn't seem to have a blueprint of dealing with such an atrocity, as something like this had never happened in NZ before.