Mental woes haunt funeral workers, says new report

People who work in the funeral industry are among the most psychologically distressed groups in China, with close to half of all employees polled suffering from minor to severe mental problems, a report has found.

The report, authored by the 101 Institute of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, a government think tank that specializes in research into funeral affairs, found that only 53 percent of employees in the funeral sector are in a healthy state of mind, with another 21.3 percent of employees in the sector having severe psychological problems.

"The employees are frequently working in distressful situations, including the death and loss of family members and spend long periods exposed to sentiments of sadness and sorrow. That has resulted in the emotional exhaustion of some employees," says the report.

The report was released before Qingming Festival, also known as Tomb Sweeping Day, an occasion mostly noted for its connection with Chinese ancestral veneration and the tending of family graves. Researchers from the institute published the findings after an analysis of 338 questionnaires from funeral homes and service institutions in 10 provinces.

Liu Jianfeng, a workshop director of a funeral home in Baoding, Hebei province, said he is still too embarrassed to say that he works at a funeral home when he meets people, even after more than 20 years in the industry.

"Prejudice in society is everywhere. We cannot even find someone to repair the equipment at our workshop when it is broken, despite the good money we offer," he says.

Employees at funeral homes also struggle to develop a sense of identity with their profession, the report says, which also accounted for the mounting psychological pressure.

"Embalmers cannot find the value of their work from how many bodies they prepare each day, and morticians cannot find value from the number of bodies they cremate," the report says.

Common problems faced by funeral workers include somatization, obsessive compulsive disorder and being overly sensitive in relationships.

The lack of social support also further aggravated the distress suffered by the workers as relatives and friends tend to avoid communications with them, while workers also deliberately reduce social contact for fear of their request being refused.

The deep-rooted social stereotypes and superstitions also prevent talent from flowing into the industry as the report found that workers with college undergraduate or graduate degrees tend to suffer from much higher levels of psychological problems, including depression, anxiety and hostility, than the national average.

The report also showed that the level of mental pressure was the least felt among workers who had received only a high school, or lower, education.

Liu says there is no special psychological therapy offered to the workers at his funeral home. "All we do is organize some group entertainment activities to boost morale sometimes," he says.

Liu says he is becoming numb to the prejudices and mental pressure, having worked in the industry for such a long time.

"For me, it is merely a job and I am only concerned about providing for my family. The other factors all come in second," he says.

xuwei@chinadaily.com.cn