00:00As Ebola continues to devastate Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo,
00:04health workers are warning of a less visible crisis,
00:08the psychological toll on patients, survivors, and families left behind.
00:12At a mental health treatment center in Bonia,
00:15a woman is receiving support after losing two close relatives
00:18and three members of her extended family to the disease.
00:24We are afraid, but we went to the hospital.
00:28Everyone at home was afraid.
00:30The neighbors are afraid to come near us.
00:33It's as though we're alone because of this disease.
00:38Health care workers say stigma affects patients, survivors, and medical staff,
00:44sometimes deepening the trauma of those already struggling with loss.
00:51It affects almost all of us.
00:53It affects the health care community, the patients themselves,
00:57even the survivors of this disease here.
01:00Because in this community, there will often be stigma,
01:03the isolation of this patient,
01:05when the patient, for example, finds himself in a center
01:08for the treatment of the disease and feels isolated.
01:18The crisis is unfolding against a backdrop of armed conflict
01:22and displacement across Eastern Congo.
01:27The crisis, the war, the conflict, the internal conflict,
01:33makes an already fragile community even more vulnerable.
01:39So, Ebola, it's more one element to fragilise the condition of mental health of people.
01:57Aid workers say psychological support is essential alongside medical treatment
02:02as communities face grief, fear, and the stigma surrounding Ebola.
02:09Their services have run for the same conditions
