Mental health dangers real, not imagined

Counseling just as important as physical protection for peacekeepers far from home

In their UN peacekeeping missions, Chinese military doctors and nurses need to heal people's minds as well as their bodies.

"Providing counseling is not a secondary concern but a necessity in our peacekeeping missions," says Yan Zhigang, director of a 43-member Chinese military medical crew in Africa.

"We have national-level psychological counselors certified by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, and we have more medical staff studying to be counselors."

Yan's medical team and a military engineering crew completed their final preparations at a Beijing training center before heading out on a UN peacekeeping mission to the Democratic Republic of the Congo in August.

Yan says the Chinese medical crew serves all UN peacekeepers and clinics as well as local people.

"Psychological and mental problems are as important as physical illnesses," he says. "The peacekeeping mission can be very challenging, so peacekeepers need to maintain good psychological health to accomplish missions and maintain the country's stability."

Faced with a turbulent society, rampant disease, a tough living environment and a shortage of supplies, all peacekeepers, regardless of their mission, can develop mental health problems.

The PLA Daily reported that in 2010 a Chinese medical crew prevented a female peacekeeper from a South American country from trying to commit suicide in the DRC. The peacekeeper had been experiencing strong homesickness and anxiety.

"During an eight-month term, a peacekeeper's feelings can change from strength and optimism to depression and anxiety," Xing Wenrong, former director of the Chinese military medical crew in the DRC's 2009 peacekeeping mission, is quoted by the newspaper as saying.

Peacekeepers can become homesick and get angry and emotional quite easily during the latter half of their missions. If they are depressed, they may remain silent for a long time, or cry inexplicably, or argue frequently with other peacekeepers, Xing says.

Yang Hong, head nurse and a certified counselor with the medical crew, is on her second tour as a peacekeeper in the DRC.

"When I first worked in the country in 2005, the telecommunications technology was not as good as it is today," she says. "It was very expensive to make phone calls back to China, and the signals were always bad. Because we could not contact our families much, it was hard to avoid being lonely.

"There were also medical situations which we rarely saw in China. The new challenges at work create a lot of pressure for us in Africa, so we need psychological counseling as well."

During their preparation in Beijing in August, the medical and technical crews received specific training to adapt to a completely closed environment for a week.

In addition to giving psychological counseling, the medical staff also need to have more general medical skills.

"As a surgeon, I should be capable of performing a gynecological surgery as well as an abdominal surgery," says Yan, the team's director. "I can do orthopedic surgery and also teach local doctors my skills."

The average age of the medical crew is 31, which is a bit older than that of engineering troops. They keep themselves physically fit through sports, including basketball and soccer.

They also put extra effort into improving their language skills.

"English is our working language," Yan says. "We can understand what we read in English, but our speaking is not good enough yet, so we encourage the team to speak in English to each other.

"With better communications skills, we can provide better service in Africa."

(China Daily Africa Weekly 12/20/2013 page7)