By Li Hongmei People's Daily Online
Some time ago, the May 12th massive Sichuan earthquake was commemorated by all across the nation, as its first anniversary came. And in the following days, the news coverage on post-quake reconstruction has made headlines in assorted media. In addition to the rebuilding endeavors bent on the physical environment, mental health of the disaster-affected population proved to be the top concern incorporated in the package of intervention mechanisms, being experimented for the time being, in the worst hit regions; and traumatic stress turned out the top challenge facing both victims and social workers, in particular, a mental hazard to the bereaved people.
After all, grief is the instinctive response to loss, and bereavement a stressor, probably the most intense one. Losing a loved one is the most difficult and dramatic example of loss; and in all likelihood, a wound never to heal. To those who have braved a complex disaster, the restoration of their mental world, as well as the regaining of meaningful options and active life existences, could be more tough a job than a mere rebuilding of their physical communities.
Media staff—most of them far away from the disaster when it struck--, actually have little idea of the severity of the disastrous impact and the aftermath on victims' mental health. Hence, they could easily form an unrealistic picture of life in the disaster-hit community, as the affected population is trying to rebuild both literally and figuratively.
When the deadly quake hit, for instance, the possible reactions firstly felt by locals were not fear, agony, despair and the like, as commonly described by media, but no more than emotional shock-- They were just left petrified. The fallout from the mental shock could be even worse than decadent sentiments. Disaster survivors, if deprived of a meaningful and active life, would be possibly reduced to something of a walking corpse, utterly worthless beings.
A report by China News Weekly could somehow illustrate this, in which a junior- ranking cadre in Beichuan, epicenter of last year's devastating quake, was cited having experienced a radical change in his personality after the quake, or as in others' remarks on his being so aberrant-- 'he acts as if he were not himself again.' The quake seems to have smashed all his values and life goals, and zapped all his zealous political pursuits being a start-up in officialdom. He is now reportedly an out-to-out drunkard, caring for nothing but alcohol.
The case also echoed a series of suicides committed ensuing the shock by some promising young communist cadres also in Beichuan, all leaving behind their deeply grieved families and the heart-breaking memories. Why they have survived the disaster but could not manage it in its aftermath is quite beyond people. Besides, a survey conducted recently by Beichuan Township Organization Department indicated that up to 11.7 percent of cadres in service have ever thought of or attempted suicide.
In most cases, people are just trying to seek a common ground for communication from the quake survivors by reassuring them that 'life will have to move on.' But the fact is that life, as such, is more than keeping alive in both its meaning and its specific manifestation. Thus, it will be comparatively easier to shelter millions of the homeless by putting up for them new homes, than to console the hopeless who are still struggling with the emotional spasm and perhaps would never let go all their lives.
Bereavement, in particular, would produce a highly emotional state, so intense that it cannot be soothed within a limited time. Additionally, very intense emotion may trigger a response in which the person in question would get very numb and almost dissociated. This, too, can be frightening. However complicated and time-consuming it could be to prescribe chicken soup for the soul, it deserves attention and efforts. Otherwise, the reconstruction mission after the disaster will never be well counted as full-scale and well-covered.
Perhaps, having people around who can spend some time with those bereaved and panic-stricken people, listen to them, and reassure them that what they are experiencing will not last forever and, does not indicate the onset of some kind of mental disturbances, is at the time an essential aspect of acute management of grief, if not a panacea for all the traumatic stress.
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