The "3.21 China Eastern Airlines MU5735 aircraft flight accident" has passed for a month, and the impact on the mental health of civil aviation practitioners cannot be ignored. On April 11, 2022, at a press conference held by the Civil Aviation Administration of China, Wu Shijie, deputy director of the Aviation Safety Office of the Civil Aviation Administration of China, said that the accident had a certain impact on the psychology and emotions of front-line employees of civil aviation, and some employees had emotional fluctuations, especially some young air crews had stress psychological reactions and low emotions.
On March 21, 2022, guangzhou Baiyun Airport, staff guided the families of passengers of FLIGHT MU5735 to assemble. (People's Vision/Photo)
After the accident, Kou Juezhong, president of the Guangdong Psychological Counselors Association, led the team to intervene in three psychological crises for the relevant personnel of Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport. He noticed that some young people suddenly became silent and did not like to talk. There are also some staff members who have changed their views on life and the world, realized the importance of family affection and the uncertainty of life, and called parents who are far away or went home to hug their children tightly.
Lin Yongqiang, chief physician of the Department of Psychiatry of Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital, told Southern Weekend reporters that the methods of providing them with necessary self-psychological adjustment training in advance, opening psychological assistance channels (such as hotlines and psychological experts to ask for help), and arranging sharing after the end of daily work.
Beijing Zhongke Xinyan Technology Co., Ltd. "Heart Guardian" set up a psychological emergency assistance line to provide all-weather psychological emergency assistance public welfare services for the families, relatives and friends of The Eastern Airlines disaster victims and front-line staff, as soon as it was opened, a helper who worked with the victims for 12 years called, and met before taking off, suddenly heard the bad news of the disaster, he could not accept it.
Kou Juezhong has been engaged in psychological counseling services and psychological education for nearly 30 years, and has participated in the psychological assistance after the Wenchuan 5.12 Wenchuan earthquake and the psychological assistance for people in lockdown and home isolation during the COVID-19 epidemic. He believes that getting airport staff out of their emotions, in addition to talking, should also make them feel a sense of professional identity — in the face of the families of such a major disaster, language may be ineffective, only companionship. At the same time, psychological physical examinations are as important as physical examinations and also need to be carried out on a daily basis.
How is counselling for airport staff carried out? Kou Juezhong was interviewed by a reporter from Southern Weekend.
Language may be ineffective and can only accompany
Southern Weekend: How long after the accident, you went to do psychological counseling for the staff of Baiyun Airport? What was the situation?
Kou Juezhong: A week after the accident, the airport took the initiative to contact us. When the accident first occurred, everyone may not fully realize the seriousness of the problem, and after a few days, they found that everyone's mood could not be eased.
There was a girl who was sad every day, crying for four or five days, and some young people suddenly became silent, not talkative, and at a loss for work. Another example is the staff in charge of dispatching at the airport tower, when the accident occurred, they commanded at the airport tower and waited for the plane to return. For that hour, all the incoming and outgoing planes at the airport were stopped just to wait for the plane to return, (but the plane did not return), and these staff members were very strongly stimulated. They reacted greatly to the news of the death, and some of them sat on the ground paralyzed and cried incessantly.
Southern Weekend: In addition to the staff at the tower, who else is receiving psychological counseling?
Kou Juezhong: There are mainly two groups of people, one is the tower and ground staff, and the other is the airport staff responsible for receiving family members. The staff who received the family told me that the son of a father who was on the plane, a college student, had collapsed, cried and slumped on the ground, and a pregnant woman fainted directly at the airport.
These "little young people" who received family members at the airport were stupid. They were supporting their families, not knowing what to say, and their language was very pale, only hugging and supporting. When I went to Wenchuan to do psychological crisis intervention, it was similar, in front of the families of such a major disaster, language may be ineffective and can only accompany.
Southern Weekend: How old are the young airport staff? Will the older staff be in a better mood?
Kou Juezhong: The young ones are all around twenty years old, and many of them have just worked for a year. The older ones will be slightly better, some in their forties, but this is also the first time they have encountered such a thing.
On March 21, 2022, in the temporary reception area, staff prepare materials for communication with the pick-up staff of flight MU5735. (Southern Weekend reporters Huang Sizhuo and Li Yulou/photo)
It's not just sadness, it's also a sense of professional identity
Southern Weekend: How many steps does the psychological intervention for them take? What's in it?
Kou Juezhong: It is roughly divided into four steps, each link is more than half an hour, a total of about three hours.
The first is the farewell ceremony. On the evening of March 26, the press conference announced that all 123 passengers and 9 crew members had been killed, and I went to counseling just a day or two later, so everyone stood up and said goodbye in silence.
The second step is to talk. Everyone takes turns talking about what you've experienced, what your inner feelings are, and telling everything you want to express.
The third step is Vipassana and awareness. Close your eyes and consciously do introspection, look back and think: what kind of psychological mentality do you have after the event? What are the most associated scenes and problems in life these days? Many people feel that life and death are very far away from themselves, and now they are suddenly drawn closer, and the purpose of doing this step is to let everyone face the psychology and self under trauma. Some people have closed their eyes and are still crying, indicating that the inner reaction is very strong. This is followed by psychological healing. I analyze from the counselor's point of view, how to look at their problems, which is called psychological cues, and instill some new ideas in them when they are in a relaxed and semi-hypnotic state.
The final step is psychological bandaging. Everyone hugged each other hand in hand, supporting each other and saying goodbye. One is to say goodbye to this matter, and the other is to say goodbye to those who are worried in their hearts.
Southern Weekend: How does psychological cues and counseling work?
Kou Juezhong: The most important thing is to establish a sense of self-identity. For example, when the Wenchuan earthquake was struck, we went to the disaster area to do psychological counseling, which is the professional identity of our psychological counselors.
This time, for the airport staff, the same is true. In real life, I only occasionally help family, colleagues, and friends, but in such an important event, it is very important to help so many people who need help, maybe only for an hour or two. This matter has not happened for hundreds of years, decades, I have personally experienced it, and I have made my own efforts, given some support to my family, and I feel not only sadness, but also a sense of identification with my profession. This allows everyone to adjust their thinking, but also evokes professional identity, responsibility, and more cherishing what they have now.
This was something they hadn't thought of, and they suddenly felt that they were so important.
Southern Weekend: Are these diversion methods routine? Or is it specially designed?
Kou Juezhong: Except for the conventional method of confiding, everything else is unconventional, and the counselor has to use different methods to face different traumatization. Of course, we have to do some preparation before going, including understanding this matter and their situation, and we have also prepared some tools such as paper and pen in advance to help the whole coaching process.
Southern Weekend: After the counseling, how did everyone's psychological state adjust?
Kou Juezhong: Much better. Relative to the family, they are indirect contact after all. But for the family, it may not pass a year, and psychological assistance will be needed in the future.
After experiencing this incident, many people suddenly have a strong identification with family affection, and often call their parents who are far away. A male staff member told me that he used to be very busy at work and paid little attention to his two children, and he hugged the two children tightly for a long time after he returned that day. The child thought it was strange, but still very happy. Experiencing an event of loss of life will make the surviving person, the person who experienced it, suddenly cherish life.
There was also a young man, who had only been working for a year, working in the tower, and used to think that the work was all electronic stuff, and there was not much feeling. But through this incident, I truly experienced the meaning of the two words of responsibility, and suddenly had a strong sense of value and identity to work at the airport.
A physical examination is just as important as a physical examination
Southern Weekend: For airport and crew staff, how should they usually do psychological counseling?
Kou Juezhong: Daily psychological counseling is called "psychological service", and the daily psychological service of the managers and ground staff of Baiyun Airport is what we do, and there are three main contents.
The first is to do a regular psychological physical examination for everyone every year, mainly psychological assessment, twice a year. A psychological examination is required, as is a physical examination. Build a psychological profile for everyone, including a series of scales such as professional identity, work pressure, managing interpersonal relationships, and so on.
The second is the psychology classroom. Psychological lectures are held regularly for different groups of people according to the needs of the airport, and there are several different courses a year.
Then there is the call center psychological counseling hotline service, these hotlines are 7× 24 hours open, everyone can dial if needed, there are professional psychological counselors to provide services, the content covers all aspects, not only involving work, but also involving husband and wife, children relationships and so on.
Southern Weekend: After this incident, many people developed fear. How to overcome the fear of airplanes?
Kou Juezhong: After the accident, I flew back to Xi'an from Guangzhou, and to be honest, I felt some psychological pressure, but also because I came into contact with people who really experienced this. For flying, first, you can't choke on food. Everyone is more affected by the air disaster because once there is a difficulty, 99% of the people will not survive. But plane crashes and road crashes are actually the same, and there is still a realistic assessment. There are so many means of transportation, it is necessary to make a choice, rational analysis, including time, accident rate and so on.
Second, believe that you are a lucky person. Airplanes are currently the most convenient of all means of transport. Everyone decided to travel, eager to arrive immediately, and did not want to spend too long on the trip. It's like wanting to get home right away after work. This still has to choose to fly. After sitting for the first time, I didn't feel it the second time. Psychologically, it is called "desensitization".
Third, risk in life is everything. Eating, walking accidentally hit, walking in the neighborhood was bitten by a puppy... Incidents that threaten life and health are everywhere. To live and continue to move forward, we must have the courage to face uncertainty, and we cannot fully plan our lives with all our strength.
Southern Weekend reporter Song Bingchen Southern Weekend contributed to Fu Wenxin