Thai cave rescue: boys 'may not be able to survive psychologically if they are trapped for months'

The teammates stranded more than a week in the partly flooded cave said they were healthy
AP
Ella Wills4 July 2018

A leading clinical psychologist today called for the rescue team working to evacuate 12 Thai boys and their football coach "to get them out as quickly as possible".

The teammates, who disappeared inside the flooded cave complex on June 23, were found by rescue divers late Monday night during a desperate search that drew assistance from experts around the globe.

Thailand Cave Rescue - In pictures

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However, Dr Michael Drayton, associate of the Cabinet Office Emergency Planning College, told the Standard that "it's going to be very difficult, if not impossible, for them to be there for months".

The expert added: "I think the key issue is of psychological survival. It would be very difficult to survive in that environment for more than a few months."

Dr Drayton said the young boys "must have been terrified and frightened" during the nine-day period that rescue teams desperately tried to find them within the cave complex.

He added: "They would have been disoriented by not having eaten. And when kids are frightened they want their mums, so they will have been affected by not having their caregivers."

But Dr Drayton said the group are "tough kids" who were likely kept alive by a belief that they were going to be found.

"A key factor that would have been helping them is the belief that they will be found," he said.

Trapped: the boys greet members of the Thai rescue team
REUTERS

"People who give up hope tend to perish, so I imagine that they are quite tough kids who would have been hopeful that they were going to be found."

The teammates were finally discovered by rescue divers late on Monday night, in a mostly stable condition.

A doctor and a nurse are among those with the group in the cave where they took shelter
EPA

But worsening weather conditions forecast for this weekend could mean that floodwaters will continue to rise inside the cave.

Dr Drayton said: "They must be scared witless. They are in the dark, they are away from they parents and also their [home] comforts.

"They are facing death and most humans don't ever really face that."

The psychologist claimed that "many or most" of the young boys would end up with "some form" of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after they have been extracted from the cave.

Dr Drayton explained that children are more susceptible to PTSD because their personalities have not matured to that of an adult.

Three British cave-divers, Richard William Stanton (2nd-L), Robert Charles Harper (3rd-L) and John Volanthen (R) joined the rescue effort last week
AFP/Getty Images

He also said that the group are more likely to experience PTSD due to the length of the trauma they have experienced in the cave. "Usually people get back to reality very quickly [after a trauma]," he said.

Dr Drayton said the group could experience any one of three symptoms of PTSD including "emotional hyper arousal" (being very tense or jumpy), experiencing flashbacks or nightmares about being trapped, and "avoidance" (feeling claustrophobic in small spaces).

The psychologist added that the trauma could emerge "after a period of elation" following their rescue.

The boys inside the Tham Luang cave
AFP/Getty Images

He said: "When the elation starts to subside that's when the trauma starts to emerge. And given the magnitude of the trauma, there's a very high possibility [of PTSD]."

Footage shared online by the Thai Navy SEALs on Tuesday night appeared to show the boys in good health inside the cave.

They were mostly in stable condition and have received high-protein drinks.

Seal commander Rear Admiral Arpakorn Yookongkaew said there was no rush to bring the group out of the cave, since they are safe where they are.

But the current flooding situation means the boys would have to dive, which rescue experts have said could be extremely dangerous.

While efforts to pump out floodwaters are continuing, some Thai officials have indicated that heavy rains forecast for this weekend could force them to decide the boys should swim and dive out using the same complicated route through which their rescuers entered.

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