| Firefighters extinguish a blaze at the Cheongnyangni Market in Seoul's Dongdaemun District, Sept. 21. / Korea Times photo by Wang Tae-seok |
By Jun Ji-hye
One in four firefighters in Korea reported suffering from sleep disorders due mainly to work stress, a survey released by the National Fire Agency showed, Friday.
The agency conducted the survey with Seoul National University Bundang Hospital from Feb. 20 to March 15, saying 92 percent of the country's 52,119 firefighters participated.
In the survey, 23.3 percent of respondents said they have been suffering from a sleep disorder, while 3.9 percent said they were suffering from depression. The figures have decreased by 2 percentage points and 0.7 percentage points, respectively, from a year earlier.
Those who reported post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) accounted for 5.1 percent.
Firefighters needing hospital care for so-called "emotional labor," or suppressing their emotions by smiling and expressing positive sentiments to others, accounted for 16.2 percent. The figure has decreased by 13.2 percentage points from a year earlier.
About 11 percent said they suffered psychological problems due to abusive language from others.
Those categorized as having a high risk of suicide accounted for 4.4 percent of the firefighters, while 0.1 percent of them said they had attempted to harm themselves.
"The results of the survey showed that our projects to improve the mental health of firefighters has begun to have an effect to some extent," a National Fire Agency official said. "We will continue to develop other programs for their psychological health."