Gwangju City Provides Psychological Support for Overcoming Disaster Trauma

Dedicated Managers Assigned for Families of Aircraft Accident Victims

Psychological Support Guide Leaflet for Gwangju City. Provided by Gwangju City

Gwangju City announced on the 5th that it will strengthen psychological support to alleviate the psychological shock caused by the Jeju Air passenger plane disaster and help citizens recover their daily lives.

The city, which is currently operating a psychological support team, will deploy 140 experts from metropolitan and local mental health welfare centers who have completed disaster psychological support training to assist bereaved families, witnesses of the disaster, and citizens in psychological recovery.

The city believes that anyone who has experienced a disaster may feel various emotions such as fear, sadness, anxiety, and anger, and may also experience trauma responses such as nightmares or recurring images of the scene, as well as psychological reactions like fatigue, exhaustion, and decreased concentration and judgment. Therefore, strengthening psychological recovery support is considered necessary.

Additionally, the city will focus on psychological support for those who develop post-traumatic stress reactions after witnessing or indirectly experiencing the disaster, such as "vicarious trauma," where individuals feel as if they have personally experienced the disaster.

The city will provide psychological support services such as in-person and remote counseling, mental health assessments and high-risk group screening, in-depth counseling with mental health specialists (psychiatrists), referrals for psychiatric treatment, and a 24-hour mental health counseling hotline.

For bereaved families who agree to receive psychological support, dedicated case managers from the mental health welfare center will be assigned to provide customized services for psychological recovery and stable return to daily life.

Jung Younghwa, Director of the Welfare and Health Bureau, said, "Not only bereaved families but also citizens are suffering from insomnia, anxiety, despair, and lethargy due to the psychological shock of the disaster," and added, "We hope that citizens who need help with psychological difficulties will not hesitate to use the 24-hour mental health counseling hotline."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.