Objective To evaluate the psychological trauma incurred by the people in wenxian after the Wenchuan earthquake so as to provide relevant information for psychological and medical interventions.
Methods Thepsychological state of the people after the earthquake was investigated using a mental health self-assessment questionnaire, self-rating anxiety scale, and self-rating depression scale.
Results We found: 56.0% of the respondents were not happy, 39.6% often cried bitterly, 56.7% felt pain, 40.7% lost interest, 69.2% felt uneasy, nervous, or worried, and 27.0% would like to end their lives; the SDS scores (56.48±110.43) and SAS scores (39.88±11.38) of the people were significantly higher than those of the national norms (P lt;0.001). The following symptons appeared: 59.3% had headache, 50.5% poor appetite, poor sleeping 56.0%, 58.2% were easily frightened, tremors 29.7%, 50.5% dyspepsia, 42.9% thoughts fuzzy, 60.4% stomach discomfort, fatigue 85.7%.
Conclusion The earthquake disaster brought about serious psychological harm to people. It is necessary to strengthen post-earthquake psychological relief and strengthen interventions in order to reduce the psychological suffering of victims.
Citation: LI Lun,SUN Tiantian,PENG Jucong,TIAN Jinhui,HAN Dongdong,GUO Lingyun,LV Bangce. Study on Problems Related to Wenchuan Earthquake Disaster Psychological Traumas of People in Wenxian. Chinese Journal of Evidence-Based Medicine, 2009, 09(4): 389-391. doi: 10.7507/1672-2531.20090073 Copy