A program teaching mental-health patients painting, dance, music and crafts is having remarkable results.儲存 Xinhua writers and report.Wang Yu seems to be proud of her peony paintings, but there’sno hint of pride on her face when she asks her visitors for comments.She remains expressionless as the visitors wow at a scroll of the large, showy pink blos- soms she has painted.h e blossoms were painted more than a year ago, and her new subject of choice is chrysanthemums, which she calls mums, for short.However, Wang continues with the query “Are my peonies beautiful?” but she is staring at a piece of paper covered in sketches of yel- low chrysanthemums.“Yes, they are beautiful, but we have to i nish our mums’ petals and leaves today. All right?” her teacher Jia Lixian says, hoping to divert her student’s attention toward the l owers they are painting.Wang begins to copy Jia as the teacher shows her how to control the brush strokes.The 30-something woman is among a group of unusual students of traditional Chinese painting, who are learning the skill as part of a rehabilitation therapy at a Beijing hospital for mental disorder suf erers.The program established at Beijing’sPing’an Hospital in 2011 is maintained by a local group of senior citizens who of er train- ing in painting, dance, music and handicrat .Jia, 63, teaches painting, a skill she learned at a community college for senior citizens, while her husband Tian Guohua serves as head of the volunteer group.Jia and Tian decided to create the pro- gram at er their mentally ill son died three years ago. At er experiencing the dii culty of raising a son with a mental disorder, they decided to create the program to help other patients and their families.h eir idea was welcomed by the hospital, which has more than 140 patients with men- tal disorders.Hospital manger Li Shuo says social par- ticipation is necessary to ensure the success of the patients’ recovery, especially for the restoration of their social skills, such as inter- personal communication.However, not everybody is i t to work with such patients, Li says. h e hospital’s man- agement decided to permit Tian’s group to volunteer because they believed the group’sdiverse skill set would aid in the recovery process.Tian’s volunteer group is composed of more than 30 members, most of whom are over the age of 60.When the program began, some of the doctors and nurses refused to believe that their patients would one day become capable of painting anything, let alone peonies, a subject that requires delicate use of brush and change of color.Jia managed to teach her students the skill, although it was not an easy process.“You need a lot of patience when you teach them how to paint. h ey are prone to for- get things and sometimes their hands are not agile enough to command complicated curves as a side ef ect of drug therapy,” Jia says.“But you cannot get frustrated or angry with them. Your only choice is to help them start from the very beginning if they forget what they have previously learned.”You Guifang, who teaches dance, has had similar problems. Dance requires nimble movements, but some patients cannot respond to the rhythms accurately.The 67-year-old You sometimes has to bend down to help move their feet with her hands.However, Jia and You are aware that they are not making artists or dancers.“We are interacting with them to make them feel happy and help them learn to com- municate with others,” Jia says.For Bao Fulan, participating in the volun- tary program requires not only a good heart and patience, but also c迷你倉urage.When Tian invited the 72-year-old woman to teach handicrat s at the hospital, her fam- ily members and friends warned her that the patients might be unpredictable or danger- ous.She admits that she was initially scared about the prospect of spending time with the patients, but agreed to give it a shot, i nding the experience was nothing like what her relatives warned her about.“Before I came here, I thought the patients were madmen, as I was told when I was a child. But I have found that they are very polite and gentle, much like children, and need care from others,” Bao says.h e hospital uses strict measures and the volunteers receive training when they start working with the program to ensure the safety of everyone involved.Bao and her volunteers keep a close eye on the scissors and tweezers that are frequently used in the handicrat that she teaches. h ree doctors and nurses are also on hand when the courses are taught.Bao’s initial worries were not unfound- ed. Violent attacks carried out by people with mental disorders happen every year.Last month, a mentally ill man attacked bystanders with a knife at a Beijing super- market, killing one person and injuring three others.h ese incidents have exposed loopholes in the medical care system, with many men- tally ill people slipping through the cracks.Reports on the incidents have also served to widen the gap between the general public and the mentally ill, who are ot en the target of discrimination in the country.According to statistics from the National Health and Family Planning Commission, China has more than 16 million people with serious mental disorders.The country’s first Mental Health Law, which took ef ect on May 1, is intended to boost public participation in caring for the mentally ill by calling for local governments to support and encourage individuals and organizations that wish to provide services for such patients.h e law has been good news for mental hospitals and patients, but it will take time for society to rid itself of discrimination, hospital manager Li says.“Drug therapy is a basic but very small part of the recovery process. Receiving care from relatives and community members can reshape patients’ perceptions of society, and thus is helpful for them to return to normal life,” Li says.In this sense, Li says, the volunteers have helped change the hospital’s environment and are playing an important role that drugs cannot i ll. “When the patients see people among them in the hospital who aren’t in white gowns, they feel dif erently.”Doctors and nurses have found that CHINAFACE Jia Lixian teaches a patient traditional Chinese painting as part of a rehabilitation therapy at a Beijing hospital for mental disorder suf erers.patients who have participated in the volun- teer therapy program have shown less hos- tility to the people around them, including hospital staf and relatives, Li says.Some of the more movement-oriented therapy sessions have also helped improve patients’ use of their limbs, which are ot en af ected by the long-term use of drugs.Li says the volunteers are setting a good example for the public in terms of the atti- tudes they have displayed toward the patients.“The patients have self-awareness, self- esteem and emotions just like you and me.h ey need the embrace of their families and society,” Li says.Wang Yu, the traditional Chinese painting student, may serve as an illustration to Li’scomments.When asked why she likes painting, the woman says that Jia is a good teacher. “She would come to teach us even when she has a fever.”儲存倉
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