‘None of us will be the same after this’
Published:Thursday | November 20, 2025 | 12:10 AMCorey Robinson/Senior Staff Reporter
COVID-19 caused serious psychological strain for Jamaicans, but the mental health challenges emerging after Hurricane Melissa are, in many cases, more severe, long-term, and layered onto existing stressors, according to St James-based senior clinical psychologist Georgia Rose.
Rose explained that the scale of the storm’s mental health impact, especially in western Jamaica, is almost unimaginable.
The disaster, she said, will reveal new strengths in some but worsen existing conditions in others. What remains clear, she said, is that “none of us will be the same after this”, especially the most vulnerable, who now face devastation with “no clear path of mental health response to the hurricane devastation”.
A resident of Coral Gardens, Rose rode out the hurricane at home and is experiencing firsthand the hardships facing many in the west, including the loss of communication, utilities, and safe shelter. She warned of increases in mood disorders, anxiety, and psychotic episodes, stressing the importance of strong government and family support.
“If you think of COVID-19, we were locked away and locked down, but we still had our essentials: running water, electricity and connectivity. We had to learn the steps of the dance, but were able to virtually connect and function. What Melissa did was to grind us to a true halt, plunging us into silence and darkness,” she said.
“Those who live alone are experiencing true loneliness, and those who were marooned struggled with feelings of isolation and abandonment. Then there is the unknown as to when things will get better, and many people struggle with not being able to fix what is wrong quickly,” she continued, noting the magnitude of the disaster.
Beyond physical destruction, Rose said many are grappling with the psychological blow of losing property that symbolised years of sacrifice.
“Owning things in Jamaica is a very hard feat. Banks don’t readily give credit, and when you see people with a car, a house, and it is damaged, you might say, ‘Well, it’s material things’, but it is not; it really represents the effort of these people’s life’s work.”
Rose said each parish, particularly the hard-hit ones like St Elizabeth, has a designated counselling team assigned to it.
LIFE OF DARKNESS
Her comments followed calls from residents of Parottee in St Elizabeth for urgent counselling, following reports of widespread mental health challenges as people try to cope with a “life of darkness” after Melissa.
Some people have reportedly migrated from other sections of the parish to the Corporate Area in search of stability and peace of mind. Others, like Petula Evans, can’t, and must remain behind in the rubble of what used to be her prized belongings.
“I think I need the counselling, ‘cause even this morning, I was looking through and I started feeling a way,” said Evans. “When I look at what I had, and now I can’t find them – not even my ID. Right now, my eyes are weak, my body is weak. My friend lost weight just because she was traumatised.”
Fisherman and church deacon Ranny Bennett cited mental health among the biggest challenges in the area, and he also called for counselling.
“Some people lost everything. The fishermen, like myself, ... the boat is over in the mangroves, the two engines seized up because they went under the sea. The car is of no use.
“If you talk to people and they tell you what they have lost, some of them will start to cry, ‘cause they don’t know where or when to start. Their livelihoods, their money, their house would have just deteriorated. Everything’s just gone,” he said, adding that some people have begun talking to themselves. “So they need counselling urgently.”
St Elizabeth South Western Member of Parliament Floyd Green told reporters that almost 40 communities in his constituency have been “wiped out”, leaving an estimated 15,000 people without homes.
He said shelters and solar lights are now the priority and assured residents that counselling sessions, offered through partnerships with the Southern Regional Health Authority and overseas volunteers, have already begun under the initiative ‘Hope Beyond Melissa’.
“ ... Some of these people have just built back from Hurricane Beryl, and when you have a more devastating blow ... and additionally, the town of Black River, where a lot of them worked and where they would have gotten their remittance from overseas, etc, is flat. So you can understand the mental toll,” he said.