The quake, which was felt in many parts of the country, has caused 28,881 deaths nationwide. In Sichuan alone, the death toll exceeded 28,300, while more than 10,000 are still buried.

In Mianyang's Jiuzhou Stadium, where Premier Wen Jiabao met Liu Xiaohua during a visit on Tuesday, Lu Jianguo, a psychologist from the Chengdu Medical College has found many severely traumatized people.

"Almost everybody is suffering depression, anxiety, guilt, self-doubt or anger, and suffer insomnia or nightmare," says Huang Guoping, director with the Psychological Intervention Center of the Mianyang No. 3 hospital.

About 60 percent of the people would probably recover within a year, but the rest could suffer trauma symptom for life, says Huang.

The work of a psychological consultant, according to Wu Huiqiong, research fellow with the psychological research center of the Guangzhou-based Sun-Yet Sen University, was to "encourage the patients open their hearts, cry, and let out their grief".

"We first accompany them to gain trust, let them tell their stories, and help them restore their normal psychological status," she says.

Zhao Guoqiu says the best time for psychological intervention is 24 to 72 hours after the disaster. "The later, the harder," he says.

After the earthquake, the Health Ministry dispatched a team of more than 20 experts to help with psychological intervention.

But Zhao believes their capabilities are limited. "Not just children need psychological treatment, adults need it as well."

Some other experts suggested that rescuers may need such treatment too.

Post-disaster psychological intervention in China is a recent phenomenon. After the devastating typhoon Saomai that killed at least 460 in 2006, a team of 32 doctors and volunteers was sent to the worst hit area in Zhejiang.

But a lack of specialists has hindered the development of psychological intervention, as China, with a population of 1.3 billion, has fewer than 15,000 psychological doctors.

(Xinhua News Agency May 18, 2008)