Psychiatrist praised for China quake services
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A Darwin psychiatrist has been lauded for the role he played setting up mental health support services for Chinese people affected by a massive earthquake earlier this year.
In May, tens of thousands of people died and many villages were destroyed when an earthquake struck the Chinese province of Sichuan.
Associate Professor Rob Parker recently returned from China where he has been helping set up mental health training courses.
He says mental health services were desperately needed because the toll of the earthquake was not only physical.
"The mental health professionals and volunteers who'd gone into assist the people affected by the earthquake were basically overwhelmed by the level of distress in the population," he said.
"They didn't really have any tools with which to work with the people, which is why there was a fairly intense call for assistance and to do this better."
