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"Some of the people will be profoundly grieving because they have lost their family or friends but they will get over it, while others will stay under the impact of that stress for a longer time," said Norman Sartorius, a well-known German psychiatrist who on Thursday was given Thailand's Prince Mahidol Award for outstanding service in the field of public health.

Thai King Bhumipol Adulyadej bestowed the Mahidol Awards on Sartorius and Jonathan Samet, a leading environmental epidemiologist, at the Chakri Throne room of the Grand Palace in Bangkok.

Different people, different consequences
Sartorius, who successfully established an internationally accepted method for the classification of mental illnesses, noted a stressful situation such as last month's tsunami will create different consequences in different people.

On December 26, tidal waves triggered by an earthquake off Indonesia smacked into Thailand's southwestern seaboard, killing more than 5 300 people and leaving some 3 000 others missing.

Sartorius warned that while some people would be resilient to the catastrophe, others would suffer long-term consequences.

"Both those who come out of it sooner and later can be helped by adequate and well-trained medical help," said the psychiatrist. "The important thing is to teach doctors in the area what they should be looking for and what they should do."

A universal problem
Sartorius believes that mental illnesses are universal, and are only responded to differently in different cultures.

"The frequency of mental disorders in Asia is not different than elsewhere," he said. "Worldwide the frequency is the same."

"But different symptoms disturb different cultures," he added.

Sartorius said the important thing was for different cultures to get over the stigma surrounding mental illnesses, which sometimes leads to lack of proper treatment.

"By the year 2015 depression alone will be the (world's) second most important disease leading to disability," said Sartorius, citing a World Health Organisation (WHO) study. "This will mean a significant drain on human resources worldwide, and yet depression is easily treated at low costs." – (Sapa-dpa)
 

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