Study On Psychological Stress Response Of Wenchuan Earthquake Victims And Related Factors

Research background People's understanding of the concept of health is different from that of the past. Health nowadays refers not only to physically strong and disease-free, but refers to the satisfactory status of physical, psychological and social adaptation. People pay more attention to mental health. But because of the increasingly worsening environment, natural disasters such as earthquake become more and more frequent. People involved in such disasters suffer both physically and mentally. The detrimental effect of earthquake on people's mental health, although not easily seen and described, is really destructive. Mental disorders caused by the experience of threatening or catastrophic events or situations may be a long-term process or have delayed effect. Such a phenomenon is known as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). If not intervened promptly PTSD may cause irreversible damage. The understanding of the mental status, the mental trauma experienced by the people involved in the Wenchuan earthquake will help us to provide better psychological support to those victims.Objectives To study the mental health status of earthquake victims and analyze the related factors. Through investigation of victims to get access to basic data to analyze the seismic hazard's psychological impact on the masses and to confirm what factors related to post-disaster psychological problems at the physical, cognitive, emotional or behavior level so as to provide the basis of psychological interventions to the victims.Methods 309 subjects were chosen randomly from the population of Pingwu county of Sichuan Mianyang. Modified questionnaires based on <> by Lin Qingwen from Taiwan were used to evaluate the mental status of the subjects. Statistic analyses were done through SPSS13.0, X2 test.Results The incidence of psychosomatic symptoms was> 10%, the quality of life decreased markedly. The different age groups were affected differently(P< 0.05). There was significant difference between groups with different educational background(P<0.05). People's reactions were also affected by the severity of the disaster.Conclusion Great disaster can have dramatic influence on victims. The lost of basic living necessities and psychologic support are the most important factors of post-traumatic stress disorder. Children tend to have more obsessive-compulsive disorder, depression and anxiety, etc. people older than 30 tend to have much severe physiologic, cognitive,emotional and behavioral reactions. Therefore,the psychological crisis interference system should be established to help the people to return to their normal living after disaster as soon as possible.