Aberfan survivors ‘still traumatised’

Almost one in three survivors of the Aberfan mining disaster were still suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder 33 years on, a new study has said.

On October 21 1966 a coal slagheap collapsed on to a primary school in Aberfan, south Wales, killing 116 children.

Some 145 children survived and many of them suffered from problems, such as difficulties sleeping, refusing to go to school and nervousness, in the immediate aftermath.

A new study set out to examine the long-term psychological impact of the disaster on the children, who are now adults in their late thirties and early forties.

Of the survivors, 41 agreed to take part in the study and they were compared with a “control group” of 72 people of similar age and background.

The researchers found 46% of the survivors had suffered Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) at some point since the event compared to 20% of the control group.

At the time the study was carried out, 29% of the Aberfan survivors met the criteria for continuing to suffer from PTSD.

Some 54% said any reminder of the event brought back feelings and pictures popped into their minds. Just under half said they thought about it without meaning to and experienced strong feelings about the event.

Some 46% said they tried not to think about it and 34% reported continuing bad dreams or difficulty sleeping due to thoughts of the disaster.

The authors of the study, published in the British Journal of Psychiatry, said the findings supported previous research which showed that PTSD symptoms can persist into adult life.

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