Venue: Building A, Donghuan Plaza
Time: May 6, 2008 19.
Expert: Mr. An Lan, founder of psychological counseling, and Yang Lan, psychological counselor.
Moderator: Hello, netizens. 5 12 Wenchuan earthquake in Sichuan touched everyone's heart. Everyone is silently praying for the people in the disaster area. Maybe we still can't be calm for a long time. As a vertical portal of mother and baby, Cradle.com was fortunate to invite psychologists Mr. An Lan and Ms. Yang Lan to explain the post-disaster psychological intervention to us. First, welcome them.
An Lan: Hello everyone on the cradle. I am Lan Lan, the founder of Wei Qing Psychological Counseling. Today is May 19, the first day of national mourning. I want to express my deep condolences to the friends who died in this incident, say a word of concern to the relatives and friends who died, and say a word of thanks to the friends who fought in the front line of emergency rescue and disaster relief.
Yang Lan: Hello, netizens. I'm Yang Lan, a psychological counselor in Wei Qing. This time, I am very grateful to Cradle.com for giving us such an opportunity to discuss the psychological work after the disaster. Many of my friends also went to the front line of disaster relief for the most timely psychological counseling. Want to cradle network is also trying its best to do such a knowledge popularization work for everyone. I am very willing to cooperate with Cradle Network as a psychiatrist. Today is the first day of national mourning. Just now, we observed a moment of silence with the host. In the process, we experienced some complicated emotions. Although these victims are not our family members, I feel this deep pain like everyone else.
Moderator: In the face of this sudden disaster, everyone is under great pressure. Today, I mainly pay attention to the psychological pressure of three groups of people. First, survivors, second, rescuers and third, ordinary people.
First, the psychological pressure of survivors.
Moderator: Let's talk about the psychological pressure of survivors first. As we all know, some people lost their homes and relatives in this disaster, and some people became physically disabled. Faced with such a situation, what is the psychological state of the survivors?
Yang Lan: Just now, the host talked about compatriots who lost their homes and relatives. Some people are physically disabled, in addition, some survivors have experienced unprecedented psychological trauma. For example, at the beginning of the earthquake, although some children were successfully carried out by their parents, when others were killed, tragic situations appeared everywhere on the street.
We know that children's psychological rehabilitation ability is relatively weak. As family members, as well as some volunteers on our site, we can also provide psychological counseling for children in time and observe their reactions. Sometimes I feel that only visible and tangible trauma needs intervention. In fact, there are some vulnerable groups whose psychological trauma will be hidden deeply and need us to discover.
Moderator: There are usually four psychological reaction processes after losing a loved one. First, the shock period: there may be emotional numbness, denying the fact of losing loved ones; 2. Complain: Some people will blame themselves and regret not saving their loved ones. Some people will be angry and feel very angry about the loss of their loved ones caused by the disaster; Third, the period of depression: some people will feel depressed and are unwilling to see others, especially parents who have lost their children, especially those who are the same age as their own children; Some people don't want to do anything, are not interested in anything, have nightmares at night, suffer from insomnia and so on. The final recovery period: stop having nightmares and start to adapt to a new life.
If most people can go through this process and heal themselves, which is what we most want to see, then, as these bereaved people, can they have some independent methods? Ask experts to introduce it to netizens.
An Lan: Let me talk about it. When we understand sadness, we will find that behind it is a kind of loss. When you lose something, for example, we lose a relative, a relationship or something we like, there will be a sad mood, that is to say, even if we lose it every day or even every moment, there will be sadness.
Therefore, in view of such an emotion, in fact, the ancients had a very good way, called ceremony. For example, after the death of a family member, we will mourn and wake up, so that we can express our emotions. In addition, such a ceremony is a farewell, an end and a new beginning. Because there will be a new beginning only after the end, we are faced with such a sad mood, and we think we will take more ways to express such an emotion, say goodbye and have a new beginning.
Yang Lan: What impressed me most was that without the end of the previous stage, there would be no beginning of the next stage. Sadness can sometimes make people easily addicted to it.
Like a mother who lost her child, she won't see anyone, and she won't see other children. If he doesn't take the first step, he will always feel this way. We should encourage him to take the first step out of prison. I sometimes think that children's lives and adults' lives are actually a very equal relationship. For example, an adult is raising this child, and the child has his own destiny. Sometimes his parents seldom take care of him. As a person, he encountered many hardships in his life, all because of things beyond our control. Some people say that everyone doesn't know when and how he will die. If more people think about death, then prepare for their own death and think hard. If we are going to die tomorrow, what we should do today may make our loved ones and ourselves accept death better.
Moderator: The earthquake was at 2: 28 pm. Many children are still in the classroom at school, and many children are lucky to survive. Please ask Yang Lan to talk about what problems these surviving children may encounter in the future.
Yang Lan: I want to talk about some surviving children. They often use games to express their fear of earthquakes for a long time after the disaster. As teachers and parents, we should pay attention to these children.
If children often build a golden wooden tower and then overthrow it to reproduce the scene of the earthquake, then let's not stop it. He cured it himself. In this process of reconstruction, he can repair his scars well. We can observe him and repeatedly create a safe environment for him. Although the earthquake scene is simulated in his mind, he can know that it is safe and controllable.
Moderator: Many people may have lost their loved ones this time, and they will feel guilty or guilty for not saving their loved ones. How can we reduce this guilt?
An Lan: When our relatives, friends and colleagues are all dead and we are still intact, there will be a kind of regret in our hearts. At this time, we still need to use all kinds of emotions to express our sadness and our fears.
Actually, we did three things by ourselves. One is something that can treat him as a god, the other is your own thing, and the other is someone else's thing. I think the parties at the scene can only do their own things well and can't do something for others, so we have no responsibility or ability to do something for others.
Yang Lan: The sense of self-blame after losing a loved one is not only in the earthquake disaster, but also in many cases, such as death and illness outside the family. There are many kinds of emotions in disasters, which are accompanied by each other. An Lan behind the sense of self-blame will mention fear, loss of control, helplessness and sadness. These emotions are all there. In fact, the emotion of self-blame has no logical and psychological basis. If we persuade him as a friend and guide him to think rationally, there is nothing you can do. You can't control the fate of others, and you may not accept it. If you can accompany him and listen to him say that it is only a temporary emotion and rebuild his confidence, such an attitude is a subtle cure.
Moderator: I want to ask how long these emotions will affect us. In other words, as a psychologist, how long will it take to intervene in them?
An Lan: According to the difference of each individual, the trauma and influence are different, so we can't generalize, but vary from person to person. For this time, the sooner the better. In this intervention, we have to do a very important job, that is, psychological evaluation. Let's invite Teacher Yang Lan to talk.
Yang Lan: Because there are too many people affected by the earthquake disaster, he is different from the personal disaster that we usually encounter when we lose our loved ones and get seriously ill. Generally speaking, after a major trauma, the earlier the intervention, the better. However, in the case of earthquakes and natural disasters, organizers of mental health should conduct assessments and surveys to understand the overall level of mental health of these survivors after the disaster, what are their main symptoms and what kind of assistance they need most?
Because from the overall consideration, there must be the deployment of materials and personnel, and there must be priorities. For example, in psychology, I think mental health workers in China have taken active actions in this earthquake disaster. More timely response and more assistance than previous disasters. I believe that with the improvement of China's mental health level, the popularization of mental health knowledge and the expansion of mental health personnel, it will be better and better.
An Lan: I would like to add that as family members who died after this disaster, we should look at this issue from the perspective of psychological intervention. You must not say, relax, this is no problem, you must not say this. Because saying this can only promote his state, and what he gets is to listen to his emotions carefully. What I want to point out in particular is that we used to think that our language is a very good way of expression, but from our psychological point of view, our language expression ability is very limited. When we do psychological intervention, we will use many methods such as music therapy, painting therapy and beach game therapy. , to fully express their emotions that were squeezed in their hearts with the parties at that time, so as to make them energetic.
Second, the psychological pressure of rescuers.
Moderator: As we all know, the rescuers are mainly local survivors and professional rescuers who have arrived in Sichuan from all over the country and even around the world. The psychology of these survivors is very complicated. Maybe their children and relatives are still in the ruins. What is their psychological state?
An Lan: It reminds me of a counselor. In fact, he is helping others. These rescuers have been greatly influenced by themselves while helping others in this long-term tense working state. Just like psychological counselors, we need a period of psychological work of psychological counselors themselves. We call it psychological supervision. What these rescuers urgently need to do is to express and guide their psychology in time after they have worked for a stage.
Yang Lan: That's true. I think as the organizer of post-disaster relief work, the superior leaders of their rescuers should put their ideas into action and protect these rescuers, including armed police, police, PLA soldiers, medical staff and some volunteers, including our psychologists. Because they are in such an emergency, rescuers are likely to support him to do overloaded work, because he has a strong will, a high sense of responsibility and a very professional spirit.
I saw some armed police soldiers, medical workers and some local policemen in the TV newspaper. Some people, including those who have lost their loved ones, are overworked, eat little and have little rest. I have a colleague. I saw a sentence he wrote. If you can't do a good job of protecting the ambulance personnel, they will also become the rescued. I think this may be the second mistake faced by our whole society, so I very much hope that these organizers and leaders can protect their rescuers.
Moderator: Like other rescuers in major disasters, professional rescuers may even have their own psychological collapse. Their main physical reaction is fatigue. What are their main psychological reactions?
An Lan: These rescuers have been witnessing for a long time. What they need most is rest, such as sleep and mental rest, so that they can really rest. No longer in a state of high tension for a long time.
Yang Lan: I once heard a saying that during the war, if a commander and an officer saw that his soldier's dream had been repeated for a hundred days without any cover-up, he could think that the soldier's psychological protection might begin to break, and such soldiers should be replaced in time. This is very humane protection. I think some of our organizers and leaders can also observe and understand to see if these rescuers have the same dream.
Moderator: So for these rescuers, will they have occupational problems, will they have a sense of fatigue, and will they feel that their physical strength has been exhausted? How can we guide it?
Yang Lan: As a helping profession, such as police and teachers, even if there is no disaster, they will feel tired. The state of avoidance is to give them psychological counseling, relax and rest, and rotate. As a frontline relief worker, it is best to go in batches. A mental health worker can go to the front line in batches now. After the person in front reaches a certain level, according to everyone's situation, they will be replaced after a certain period of time and return to self-cultivation. When it comes to each group of people, it will be different-for example, people with rich experience and high psychological endurance can spend more time. If you are a novice, you must control your working hours with the front line under the guidance of other personnel.
Moderator: What we want to say here is to say "thank you" to all rescuers, and don't forget to take care of yourself while working.
Third, the psychological pressure of ordinary people.
Moderator: This disaster not only brought great psychological pressure to the people in the disaster area, but also caused pessimism, helplessness and anxiety among the general public. I would like to ask experts why we have these emotions.
An Lan: With the continuous progress of modern scientific and technological means, for example, we now have TV and Internet, so we often say that the earth has become a village. Therefore, although it is thousands of miles away, or thousands of miles away, when we see the scenes in the disaster area and hear the voices of the people in the disaster area, we are no longer spectators or bystanders. We are already in it and will feel some emotions of the people in the disaster area. For example, sadness, helplessness and anxiety. Let's talk about these emotions in detail. Sorrow is loss. When we lose a relative, home or house, the emotion we show is called sadness. The so-called sense of helplessness means that when we can't express something and can't do anything, we will feel helpless, especially in this earthquake disaster. In this process, we found that our strength is very, very limited, and people can hardly do anything about such natural disasters. It seems that we will feel helpless at this time. As for anxiety, I think when we are not very clear about our emotions, we can't express our emotions very well, and we are too aware of the dangers we face, we will show anxiety.
Yang Lan: I want to go further. Experienced some large-scale disasters, experienced the suffering of some compatriots, why did it happen to those of us outside? I have seen an example. After SARS, there was an old man who could hardly get out of his anxiety. He is awakened by a nightmare at 4 every morning. We can imagine that people in China will have similar extreme reactions after the earthquake disaster. This is related to people's extreme fear. Usually, some people have special psychological qualities and have experienced some disastrous events, sometimes among the elderly. These are mixed with sympathy for the victims and the dead, so we should pay attention to whether such things happen. If someone around you has long-term anxiety, if anxiety is not limited to the fear of the earthquake, but Fan Hua involves all aspects of social life, when this happens, you can go to a psychological counselor and call some psychological hotlines for help.
An Lan: I would like to add that when we feel sad, helpless and anxious, if his degree is in a very normal situation, that is, when most people will have this kind of performance for a period of time, he may be in a relatively normal situation, but if his time and degree exceed the general population, it is also necessary. After half a year, we will still have this very obvious anxiety and fear. After that, it is necessary for us to see a psychologist or counselor and seek professional help. Such a disaster is actually an introduction to present and express the original plot in our life through this incident. When his expression is very strong, beyond the scope of normal people, I want everyone to seek professional help in time.
Moderator: I want to tell you here that if you still have negative emotions such as sadness, fear and helplessness after half a year, I hope you can seek professional psychological counseling and guide yourself in time. Do we have some simple ways to help these ordinary people?
An Lan: I think everyone can find their own way. For example, when I came to Cradle.com today and waited for my host downstairs, I found many people talking about it in the garden. When we talk about this with our friends, it is a good help to us. Don't stay in your head, express it. This in itself is a kind of treatment and release.
Moderator: When there is an emotional reaction, there is bound to be a physiological reaction. What are our physiological responses to this catastrophe? Please talk to two teachers.
An Lan: After experiencing this catastrophe personally or indirectly, almost everyone of us will feel anxious, which will affect our mood. For example, we have insomnia, inattention, bad appetite, or headache and stomachache. These are all physiological reactions after the catastrophe. If we use a very vivid metaphor to describe how people like us recover, I think we should relax first. How to relax? We can take a way, for example, we can reduce working hours and go hiking on weekends. Achieve the purpose of relaxation. Above you, we can eat some relaxing and light food, such as eating more fresh vegetables and fruits.
Yang Lan: As An Lan said, ancient people heard and heard news that triggered their emotions every day before this disaster year. Everyone talked about these topics. As a result, some people who are not physically and psychologically strong will have some very anxious symptoms in the next few days. The symptoms of anxiety will inevitably affect our physical and mental health for a long time, so as An Lan said, we should do some exercise and relax ourselves. Instead of being in a state of tension for a long time, this is very helpful. Our whole society and country also hope that everyone can calm down and accept this fact and not be in a state of anxiety for a long time. After all, we have so much work and life to do and there is still a long way to go in life. Just stop at this time, pay attention to your heart and realize the meaning behind these anxiety symptoms.
Moderator: According to some data, the proportion of survivors of Tangshan earthquake suffering from neurosis, anxiety and phobia in the future is 3 to 5 times higher than that of normal people. Many people suffer from insomnia, dreaminess, emotional instability, nervousness and anxiety, and will get hurt every July 28th. In addition, people who have experienced earthquake trauma have a higher proportion of hypertension and cerebrovascular diseases than normal people. It seems that earthquake trauma has a great influence on people's body and mind. But what are the concrete manifestations that we can observe as ordinary people?
An Lan: The example just now is very good, which illustrates a psychological change. It has been so long since the earthquake, but it will still have such a great impact on people's psychology. This just illustrates a truth. When we have an emotion, it is energy, which needs to be expressed and released in time. When this energy is not expressed and released in time, it will remain in our minds, even in our bodies, so when we judge whether it is affected by such a trauma, a very important criterion is whether this person has changed a lot compared with the past. For example, he used to be very outgoing, but after the incident, he became very introverted and did not like to talk. This is a huge change. We think such an event has a great influence on his psychology.
Moderator: At present, psychological workers are still limited after all. As his friends and relatives, how can we relieve his mood more effectively?
Yang Lan: For a person without professional training, he can do something within his power. Each of us really has the same heart. If you face him with an accepting attitude instead of judging him, then when you accept him, your psychological information will also be passed on to him, so that he can express his energy. We suggest that when you meet a survivor of this disaster, you should first look him in the eye and send him a message. This information is acceptable to him. In addition, we also have requirements for the environment. In a quiet environment, rather than in a hurry, this environment is best closed. One more thing, we suggest you take the initiative to approach him. Some disaster survivors will become more withdrawn. Many people are survivors of the disaster. Everyone thinks of each other. As a member of a group, why should I ask for help? So if you meet such a person, you can approach him, talk to him, look him in the eye, even hold his hand, establish a relationship, and then guide him to talk about what happened in the disaster, encourage his emotional expression, and accept his emotional expression.
Moderator: Just now, experts mentioned a sub-energy. By some definition, energy is a positive thing. The body has all kinds of energy to do all kinds of things. I think the energy that experts say actually represents a negative emotion?
An Lan: That's right. Why do we call him a negative emotion? For example, such people will become strong in the process. We should be strong, one is a person's normal state. Sometimes we are strong, but sometimes we are also fragile.
Yang Lan: Energy is like water. Good use of water is beneficial, but bad use of water is harmful. Energy can be understood in this way. If it accumulates, it is likely to stink. Probably across the street.
Moderator: Each of us has two kinds of energy in our bodies. One is positive and the other is negative. Can it be understood that these survivors may use their effective positive energy to suppress negative energy? If you don't rely on external forces, can you resist?
An Lan: On the way here, it occurred to me that there is no home to rebuild. As myself, I also have difficulties in my work, but I am much smaller than them. I think sadness is also a kind of strength. Turning grief into strength is a slogan, but it is not. This is a psychological change. This is very beneficial when you are sad. We need this kind of power to transform and apply it to our production, construction and reconstruction.
Moderator: It seems that turning grief into strength is not only an empty slogan, but also a scientific basis.
Yang Lan: Grief, if we don't give a good way to change it, it may continue to eat away at our collective, and a person has experienced a traumatic event. For example, when an old man loses his wife, he will indulge in self-blame and post-meeting emotions, and gradually his emotions will collapse and his life will be shortened. We are thinking about how to turn this energy into a positive side. I heard a true story about a child who survived the Tangshan earthquake. He was only 1 1, 12 years old when he was rescued. He lost his family in the earthquake. Later, he turned this sad energy into a driving force for his progress. He must find a way. Unlike us normal people, he must find an outlet for energy. Later, he went to be a soldier. For a teenager who graduated from high school, he trained his career path, which showed his strong will. He also made great achievements and became a writer and psychologist.
Moderator: Just now, after listening to the explanations of two teachers, I have a new question here. In this disaster, not all people can get the help of psychological counselors and therapists. As companions, should we have and learn the skills of communicating with survivors?
An Lan: I feel that first of all, we communicate with these parties with a calm heart. Many times we regard him as a victim, a victim, or a vulnerable group. In this way, we sometimes strengthen such a sense of helplessness. When we judge him as an equal and normal person, this influence will become smaller and help these people get out of this state as soon as possible.
Yang Lan: Yes, An Lan is not talking about my sense of self-worth. Some people were disabled in the disaster. At this time, they are likely to feel uncomfortable, unable to accept their current physical condition and feel inferior because they are worthless. Some people never get married after the Tangshan earthquake, and he can't overcome his inferiority complex. We should give others a chance to show their sense of self-worth and make them feel needed.
Nothing is more important than giving someone a job. Now some people call for giving them employment opportunities after the disaster. This is a very good suggestion. If he is physically disabled after the disaster, but he can still do some work within his power, be able to support himself and see that others need him, this time is very meaningful for his psychological recovery.
An Lan: We need to treat our friends in distress with a normal heart and an equal heart. Try not to look at him differently.
Moderator: Thank you very much, An Lan. Thank you very much, Yang Lan! I can come to the cradle. Do this program for you.
What needs to be mentioned here is that the disaster relief process is called a secondary disaster, so each of us has the responsibility and obligation to do something for these disasters. Even if it is to help people around you get rid of bad emotions. Even spreading what you know about psychological intervention. Is a very meaningful thing. I also hope that people who have experienced disasters believe that everyone is connected with your heart and hand! Thank you!