China has sent 60,000 picture posters to quake areas in an effort to help with the psychological counseling work of traumatized survivors.

The posters, drawn and printed under the organization of the Health Ministry, fall into three categories. They are targeted at adults, middle-school students, and pre-school and primary school students, respectively.

Counseling words were written into doggerel verses to make them easier for people to understand and remember, the ministry said.

Zhang Kan, director of the Psychological Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said millions of quake victims, witnesses, and rescuers may have suffered psychological trauma and needed counseling.

"Some people may not be able to handle the helpless emotion and suffer long-time panic, the feeling of setback and emotional dysphoria," said Zhang.

Thousands of volunteers from around the country have registered through local psychological service stations to go to the quake areas to help the victims.

However, there was still a heavy shortage of professional psychologists, since the therapy was in an initial stage of development, even in the country's major cities.

The death toll from the May 12 earthquake increased to 69,127 as of Thursday noon, the Information Office of the State Council said.

In total, 373,612 were injured and 17,918 others remained missing in the 8.0-magnitude quake that jolted southwest Sichuan Province and some other areas. About 45.71 million people were affected by the disaster.

(Xinhua News Agency June 6, 2008)