By: Dr. Jeff Cadichon
Today marks the 10th anniversary of the earthquake, which I experienced from the inside. It's a part of my life that I share in common with the other victims. I am one of the people whose life changed completely that day.
Like many victims, I was faced with emotions of fear and anguish. I witnessed horrific scenes. Physically, I came out without a scratch, however I was faced with the urgency of starting my mental/psychological reconstruction process. I had to bounce back.
In 2010, I was finishing my bachelor program in psychology at the Faculty of Human Sciences at the State University of Haiti. Six and a half years later, after obtaining my bachelor's degree, a master's degree in France, I returned to Haiti to collect data from my doctoral thesis and I earned my PhD at Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté (France).
My doctoral research aimed to explore long-term consequences of the 2010 Haiti earthquake among survivors and analyze their strategies to overcome them, and to understand the evolution of the identity processes.
Among, 723 adolescents and young adults (including 364 girls and young women) aged 14-24 who were assessed, 35.82% reported clinically significant symptoms of PTSD with a higher prevalence for girls and young women.
Clinically, the results suggest that other social factors, such as political unrest, cholera epidemic and precarious living conditions, seem to explain this high vulnerability. Social instability also seems to explain anxiety and anguish of survivors with an achievement identity status.
Otherwise, the results showed a moderately high level of resilience among the survivors that would reflect their ability to find psychological, social and cultural resources sufficient to recover despite psychic disturbances.
My research findings were really helpful to set up Nadege Mental Health Program for survivors of sexual violence in Haiti. Women were more affected by the earthquake than men because a lot of them were victims of rapes in the camps.
The findings will help Nadege’s clinical staff team identify protective and resilience factors of safe house residents to help them to recover. It is a question of individual factors (cognitive skills, age, empathy, sense of humor), family and social support.
The traumatic experience can be a source of opportunities for the survivors. We are ready to share this hope with the women and their children who will soon enter Nadege’s safe house.