Mental Health Emergency Evacuation for Seafarers
Case Study on Evacuation and Mental Health Support for Seafarers
Shipping jobs or working at sea has been classified as one of the most dangerous jobs in the world, individuals working onboard face challenges on day-to-day basis and staying away from civilisation for days and weeks create more concerns on mental wellbeing of seafarers. Shipping companies face many challenges onboard related to their seafarers and we provide assistance when they need guidance related to psychological wellbeing of a seafarer or whole team members. Read below the some of the case studies that our team have dealt with.
CASE STUDY 1
Mr. Ashish(Name changed), aged 23 YRS, male, unmarried, ranked as O/S, working on his fourth contract with the same company was escorted to India from Singapore by one of our team member & a psychiatrist due to his sudden behavioural issues onboard.
According to the patient and the officials onboard the patient’s issues started two months back before he was repatriate, when he felt a sudden presence of unknown energy which gave him the superstitious power to understand & read people’s mind. The patient started skipping his food & didn’t sleep for many days in a stretch, still the patient informed that he felt fresh & energetic to his senior. But somewhere in back of his mind the patient did realised that he was behaving weirdly & told everything to his Chief Officer and also requested him that he wants to meet the Captain, but Captain responded after 3-4 days because of which the patient felt disturbed and started ignoring his colleagues & seniors requests & orders related to his job and started fist fight with them onboard because of which he was locked up in his cabin.
Hence, the company reached out to us to bring the patient back safely and under guidance of a professional to avoid any further severe injury to self (patient) or to others that can be caused by the patient while returning back. Patient mentioned he smoked once on ship in a party & has taken beer twice, once on ship as they celebrated their colleague’s birthday & another time as the weather was too cold. No medical history was reported by the patient in the past. He also denied having any psychological issues in the past. He stays in Mumbai for last five years with a friend and his family lives in Gorakhpur.
After coming back to Mumbai, we admitted him in a hospital under the guidance of our psychiatrist with company’s consent where he was further evaluated & treated for his psychological disorder.
CASE STUDY 2
Mr. Zaid(Name changed), aged 48 YRS, male, married, ranked Marine Engineer, working for his fifth contract with the same company was escorted from Abu Dhabi by one of our team members.
The patient was hospitalized in a Abu Dhabi following an incident where he joined ship on 17th Feb, 2022 but on 20th Jun, 2022 afternoon, the patient complaint about numbness and suddenly lost consciousness, though the patient regained consciousness within half an hour but the episodes started recurring almost every day and hence he was hospitalised in a Hospital on 26th Jun, 2022 when the ship reached the shore to know the cause where he underwent multiple sessions with neurologist, neurosurgeon & psychiatrists and was diagnosed with Panic attack, Right Thelamic Lesion, Dyspnea & Chest pain.
After getting the treatment he was discharged on 30th Jun, 2022 and was advised to go for further treatment in India and so the company contacted us to escort the patient back to India safely under supervision of an expert to avoid any incidence, incase the patient again experience the same episode.
The patient lives in Uttar Pradesh in a joint family. Patient mentioned he doesn’t smoke nor drinks. No addiction related to drugs was reported by the patient to cause these issues. No medical history was reported by the patient in the past or childhood. He also denied having any psychological issues in the past.
We brought him back to India and admitted him in a hospital with company’s consent for further evaluation & treatment was provided under the guidance of our team mates.
Sentier Mind provide Marine Health Support to Shipping Companies, Marine institutes and D.G.Shipping certified doctors for mental fitness & mental wellness of mariners. Sentier Mind has been providing a mental health support such as Psychometric for mental fitness, helpline for emotional support, training on Psychological first aid and crisis evacuation in case of mental health crisis onboard. We have a team of Psychologist working with this population for over a decade. We help to provide the care that every individual deserve. If you are looking for similar service for your organisation or your client, feel free to connect us for the assistance.
Written by Dr. Neelima Goswami
