Source: University of Auckland
A Tongan doctor’s masters’ research was triggered by his own PTSD following the eruption of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai.
Dr Patelisio Na’a Patelisio own post-traumatic stress following the large eruption of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai inspired his masters research on PTSD in Pacific children.
Two years later Patelisio is graduating on 7 May 2024 with a Masters degree from the School of Population Health at Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland and a fire in his belly to improve mental health support in the Pacific, especially for children, following natural disasters.
When Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai exploded massively, Dr Patelisio was running an outpatient clinic at Tonga’s Vaiola Hospital.
“The first explosion occurred and I assumed construction work was being done in the hospital ,” he says. “It was after the second, I realised. I saw, out in the parking lot, everyone was gathering there, looking up towards the area where the volcano had been erupting during the week.
“And once I got outside to the side where the volcanic eruption was happening. You can see the dark smoke coming up from there.
“The third explosion occurred and then I felt a shockwave. From the shockwave, we had to make sure that the patients in the outpatient clinic were sent home.”
Patelisio then went with his sister, who also was also working at the hospital, in disease surveillance, to join his family members and drive through the raining volcanic ash to the airport, where they spent the night.
In the following weeks, Patelisio and his colleagues working in the health promotion unit for the Ministry of Health formed a public health team to assist people who most needed help, especially those who had been forced to leave their homes, often on smaller islands, and live in halls on Tongatapu.
“Most of the help they requested related to mental health. They wanted talks about stress, anxiety and coping strategies.
While there had historically been stigma around mental health, that changed during the Covid-19 pandemic and people were open to support, Patelisio says.
Patelisio wanted to have a good evidence base for the advice he was giving, which is when he discovered a paucity of evidence relating to the Pacific.
“The research was mostly done in developed countries, places where they have enough resources to conduct the work. It wasn’t contextualised to places that have low resources where they just make use of whatever they have.”
While he was thinking this over and giving talks, a few weeks after the eruption, the rain came and with it came thunderstorms.
“I was feeling like it was traumatic, it was like PTSD. I was thinking back to the eruptions, and people were posting on Facebook about how they were feeling. It made me think, ‘as an adult, I’m feeling this way, imagine what the kids are feeling. Would they be able to voice their concern to their parents of their fri
