The 921 earthquake last month did more than topple buildings, collapse bridges and claim over 2,300 lives. It also had a major impact on the mental health of quake survivors.
As a result, mental health and social work professionals are still finding it difficult to reach those who are suffering psychologically from the impact of the quake, according to experts and lawmakers.
At a forum yesterday, lawmakers said psychological relief resources have not operated well in the relief action. A major problem, they said, lies in the fact that frontline workers in the disaster areas were volunteers who did not have a professional training in mental health, while professionals had less access to those who needed emergency treatment.
DPP lawmaker Lai Ching-ling (
Psychological consultation and psychiatry services for victims of the 921 earthquake began just a few days after the quake. Psychologists and students, as well as psychiatrists from 21 public psychiatry centers and hospitals, have joined a variety of professional groups helping people traumatized by the disaster.
Wu Shun-chih, (
But these volunteers ended up suffering trauma themselves.
"Our workers began to feel a lot of stress after long exposure to victims' bodies," said Wu.
"Fast and flexible mobilization is the advantage of civil groups; therefore, they are able to contact more clients as frontline workers. Whereas psychiatrists, limited by their regular work schedules, were less able to be mobilized to provide direct services to people at the disaster sites," said Yang Yi-hong (
Psychiatrists and counseling workers could only stay in secondary locations and take phone calls from quake victims, Yang said.
One problem that arose was that many workers on the front lines were untrained volunteers lacking professional counseling skills. As a result, they were less able to identify traumatized patients who needed emergency psychiatric help, Yang said.
"We should set up seed programs to train volunteers and social workers who offer direct services at the disaster sites," Yang said .
Echoing Yang, DPP legislator Hung Chi-chang (
"Psychological relief is a long-term project for local communities, and schools teachers and local officials play a crucial role in the process," he said.
According to Hung, the lack of mobilization among mental health professionals is a result of a lack of registered mental health professionals here.
Taiwan has only 632 registered psychiatrists at hospitals and psychiatric centers. The Clinical Psychologist Law (臨床心理師法), which would license college psychology majors to give psychological treatment, is bogged own in the legislature.
Lai and Hung urged Department of Health officials to set up an integration project to incorporate volunteers and teachers for long-term psychological relief in the future.
FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION: The UK would continue to reinforce ties with Taiwan ‘in a wide range of areas’ as a part of a ‘strong unofficial relationship,’ a paper said The UK plans to conduct more freedom of navigation operations in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Lammy told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. British Member of Parliament Desmond Swayne said that the Royal Navy’s HMS Spey had passed through the Taiwan Strait “in pursuit of vital international freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.” Swayne asked Lammy whether he agreed that it was “proper and lawful” to do so, and if the UK would continue to carry out similar operations. Lammy replied “yes” to both questions. The
SECOND SPEECH: All political parties should work together to defend democracy, protect Taiwan and resist the CCP, despite their differences, the president said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday discussed how pro-Taiwan and pro-Republic of China (ROC) groups can agree to maintain solidarity on the issue of protecting Taiwan and resisting the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The talk, delivered last night at Taoyuan’s Hakka Youth Association, was the second in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. Citing Taiwanese democracy pioneer Chiang Wei-shui’s (蔣渭水) slogan that solidarity brings strength, Lai said it was a call for political parties to find consensus amid disagreements on behalf of bettering the nation. All political parties should work together to defend democracy, protect Taiwan and resist
By refusing to agree spending increases to appease US President Donald Trump, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez threatened to derail a summit that NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte needs to run smoothly for the sake of the military alliance’s future survival. Ahead of yesterday’s gathering in The Hague, Netherlands, things were going off the rails. European officials have expressed irritation at the spoiler role that Sanchez is playing when their No. 1 task is to line up behind a pledge to raise defense spending to 5 percent of GDP. Rutte needed to keep Spain in line while preventing others such as Slovakia
SHIFT PRIORITIES: The US should first help Taiwan respond to actions China is already taking, instead of focusing too heavily on deterring a large-scale invasion, an expert said US Air Force leaders on Thursday voiced concerns about the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) missile capabilities and its development of a “kill web,” and said that the US Department of Defense’s budget request for next year prioritizes bolstering defenses in the Indo-Pacific region due to the increasing threat posed by China. US experts said that a full-scale Chinese invasion of Taiwan is risky and unlikely, with Beijing more likely to pursue coercive tactics such as political warfare or blockades to achieve its goals. Senior air force and US Space Force leaders, including US Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink and