‘PSYCHOLOGICAL FIRST AID’ HELPS TURKIYE QUAKE SURVIVORS COPE WITH PTSD

As the earthquake response in southeastern Türkiye shifts toward rebuilding and rehabilitation, one of the key priorities is the mental health of the millions impacted by last month’s disaster.

Scores of teams are working in hundreds of tent and container cities established across the affected region, trying to help survivors deal with pain and loss of unimaginable proportions.

The focus has been on “psychological first aid,” according to Hatice Cagil, a young counseling psychologist. “Watch, listen and connect. That is how we summarize psychological first aid,” she told Anadolu Agency (AA) at a tent city currently home to hundreds of survivors in the province of Adıyaman.

“Our aim is to understand what people need. We have to really hear what they are saying, and even what they

Death toll from Türkiye’s quakes tops 48,440!

The death toll from the Kahramanmaraşcentered twin earthquakes in Türkiye’s southeast has reached 48,448, Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu informed Monday. The catastrophic 7.7 and 7.6 magnitude earthquakes - nine hours apart - struck the southeastern region of Türkiye and neighboring Syria on Feb. 6 and razed thousands of buildings besides inflicting severe infrastructural damage. More than 13.5 million people in Türkiye have been affected by the devastating quakes, as well as many others in northern Syria.