Indonesia is surrounded by very active volcanoes known as the ring of fire. These conditions make Indonesia very vulnerable to natural disasters. The Mount Semeru Pyroclastic Avalanches in Lumajang Regency, East Java-Indonesia have threatened the mental health of the survivors. They face very complex situations and conditions, both physically and psychologically. Psychiatrists have an important role in the implementation of disaster mitigation and management. Psychiatrists can contribute to efforts to prepare for and deal with mass disasters and trauma.
PFA training is very suitable to be applied to the health cadre to prepare them to provide psychosocial care for individuals who are affected by disasters and ensure a workforce that survives disasters and emergencies effectively. There is a growing need to support the human resources available to respond to the situation. Therefore, it is important to integrate PFA in the context of the function of the health cadre to improve mental health improvement in disaster management.
The Mount Semeru crisis in Indonesia on Dec. 4 and 5 2021 killed at least 43 people, with some 13 people are missing and at least 3,000 housing units damaged. Thousands of residents, especially the Lumajang Regency, East Jawa were displaced and threatened with a mental health crisis in the next few months. Although the Law of the Republic of Indonesia of 2007 concerning Disaster Management (State Gazette of Republic of Indonesia Number 66, 2007) does explicitly state that disasters have a psychological impact and psychosocial support is a basic necessity. Less attention has been given to how mental health aspects affect the predisaster phase. Four strategies are proposed so that interventions can contribute to filling the mental health mitigation gap in mental health and psychosocial support: increasing stress resistance, promoting cohesion and social support, promoting positive cognition, and building self-efficacy and resilience. mitigation potentially benefits the general pub¬lic and may reduce the need for medical or clinical mental health services. WHO (2007) compiled a list of essential components for a disaster preparedness plan to address the mental health and psychosocial aspects such as the develop¬ment of a risk communication strategy; the establishment of up-to-date and well-maintained communication equipment and infrastructure; and empowerment at the local level to launch first response actions. Build life skills in general (include leadership and personality or pfa skills training and seminars, in contrast to awareness campaigns and formal education) can increase positive cognition on a wider scale, thus should be well designed and strategically implemented
The unexpected 2015 Sabah earthquake struck the town of Ranau, Sabah and some of the fatalities included children who were on the trail of Mount Kinabalu. As a foundation for natural disaster response, the Child Psychiatry & Mental Health team of Sabah alongside welfare agencies adopted a trauma-informed approach that focused on healing and resilience for the children. We prioritised responding to the emotional and physical well-being of children whose families and homes were affected. As time was limited, our team focused on a brief but effective intervention that would address and support their healing and help them access their resilience.
Expressive art therapy presented a way for the children to become active participants in their own healing process and to see themselves as "survivors," rather than "victims". It was a professional privilege to be a part of this experiential journey with the children, validating and acknowledging their experience with no judgement or criticism. The collaborative approach taken through the expressive arts therapy had the capacity to reach the children quickly and more completely than words could. This lead to the anchorage of re-establishing the sense of safety and inner calm. Van der Kolk (2014) supported the concept of play (expressive art) in healing: “when we play together, we feel physically attuned and experience a sense of connection and joy”.