More than 800 sessions have been held for Greater Kaohsiung residents seeking help for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) since last week’s gas pipeline explosions and extra workers are in place to provide assistance, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said yesterday.
A program was launched on Friday last week and more than 60 medical personnel and social workers were mobilized in the disaster-affected area, ministry spokesman Wang Che-chao (王哲超) said.
“We are taking a pro-active role in approaching those who might have suffered post-traumatic stress disorder,” Wang said.
A person can develop post-traumatic stress after a traumatic event that results in feelings of stress, fear and powerlessness.
Health workers are being sent to check on the mental health of residents in the two districts impacted by the blasts, and the ministry is building closer ties with ward chiefs to make it easier to approach those who may need help, Wang said.
Individuals who have had trouble getting help can call a toll-free hotline — 0800-788-995 — that has a team of 40 professionals ready to take calls around the clock, Wang said.
Since it can take time for PTSD to develop, the mental health services will continue for another two to three months, Wang said.
Taiwanese Society of Psychiatry director-general Frank Chou (周煌智) said it was normal for people to develop acute post-traumatic syndrome — which involves replaying horrifying images and having difficulty sleeping — within a week of a traumatic event. It will be crucial to keep a close eye on victims to see if they are recovering, he said.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday said it opposes the introduction of migrant workers from India until a mechanism is in place to prevent workers from absconding. Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) on Thursday told the Legislative Yuan that the first group of migrant workers from India could be introduced as early as this year, as part of a government program. The caucus’ opposition to the policy is based on the assessment that “the risk is too high,” KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) said. Taiwan has a serious and long-standing problem of migrant workers absconding from their contracts, indicating that
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