Concern for miner’s psychological welfare

The Chilean miners who have survived more than two months underground will emerge forever changed and may struggle to return to normal life, psychologists have warned.

Rescue teams Wednesday hoisted the first of the 33 miners to the surface after 69 days trapped underground, with the men stepping out of a world of rock and darkness into the harsh glare of the world’s media.

Some of the miners, who spent 17 days cut off from any contact with the outside world before finally making themselves heard, are likely to emerge stronger, while others could be more fragile, but all will be changed, psychologists said. Chilean authorities have offered at least six months of psychiatric follow-up to the men who are now national heroes, which will take place alongside joyous family reunions and a new, however temporary, celebrity status. “Their ‘before’ life is over,” said Enrique Chia, a psychologist from Chile’s Catholic University, who warned the readaptation process would be a big challenge “full of risks.”

“When all your living conditions are suddenly changed, you have to readjust,” Chia said.

“Someone who has faced death thinks about their personal situation... what they are and aren’t doing in their life, and they need to be accompanied through that,” said Margarita Loubat, a psychologist from Chile University. AFP