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Since July 7, 2021, China's Ministry of Education has officially issued the Notice on Strengthening the Management of Students' Mental Health, which has caused widespread heated discussions across the country. The notice clearly requires all colleges and universities, primary and secondary schools to carry out regular mental health assessments for students every year, and establish a "lifelong policy" psychological growth file. After a year of implementation, let's review and think about the progress and future challenges of adolescent mental health management.
The current state of human mental health
First, let's take a look at the current state of mental health in the mainland. According to the 2022 China Depression Blue Book, China's mental health survey shows that 95 million people in mainland China currently suffer from depression, and about 280,000 people commit suicide every year, of which 40% suffer from depression. It is worth noting that among the depressed patients, adolescents under the age of 18 account for 30.28% of the total number, while among school students, depression patients account for 50%. Forty-one percent of patients had been suspended from school for depression, and 7.4 percent of them were severely depressed.
These data reveal a worrying situation, a society fraught with mental health challenges. If we take a standard high school class as an example, then there may be a full 10 classmates suffering from depression, and 3 of them are severely depressed. The detection rate of depression also showed an upward trend with age, with 10%, 30% and 40% of depression in primary, junior high and high school, respectively. Behind this data is a warning about the mental health problems of adolescents in mainland China.
In addition, adolescent suicide has become the fourth leading cause of death on the mainland. A statistical survey covering several rural areas in mainland China showed that more than 70% of preschool children (3-5 years old) have various degrees of psychological problems, including attention disorders and communication disorders. This figure is much higher than previous statistics and exceeds the situation in other countries and regions. This high proportion of problems not only stems from a wide range of psychological problems, but is also affected by factors such as the disparity in the level of education between urban and rural areas. On the whole, on the one hand, the number of common psychological crises is increasing year by year, but there are still problems in the society with low awareness of psychological problems and low medical treatment rates. On the other hand, mental health services in mainland China are scarce and unevenly distributed, and a community rehabilitation system for mental disorders has not yet been established, so mental health work in mainland China still faces severe challenges.
The importance of mental health assessments
The first step in addressing the public health threat of any disease is to identify as many patients as possible in the population, and this also applies to mental health issues. Mental health assessment is an important tool that can help us identify individuals with psychological problems and provide timely intervention and support.
However, mental health assessments also come with some challenges. First of all, privacy protection is a very important issue. In an environment where the dissemination of information is not under the control of individuals, negative labeling can lead to discrimination and prejudice, which can be an exacerbation for teens who are already in a depressed state or suffering from depression. Therefore, it is important to ensure that individual privacy and informed consent are fully respected when conducting mental health assessments.
Another challenge is how to present the results in a reasonable and acceptable manner and proceed with the next step of evaluation and processing. Mental illnesses such as depression still have a stigma in society, so the expression of results needs to be handled with care so as not to cause additional harm to the person being tested.
At the same time, assessment is only the beginning, not the final solution. The results of a single assessment are not sufficient to make a diagnosis and require further evaluation and management. In addition, mental health problems cannot be addressed if there is only assessment without follow-up intervention and treatment. Therefore, the ultimate goal is to establish a comprehensive mental health system, including prevention, screening, assessment, early warning intervention, aftercare and protection.
The importance of mental health education
Although mental health assessment is an important step, prevention is still paramount. Rather than focusing solely on assessments, we should focus on mental health education. Adolescents need to learn how to deal with setbacks in life, how to maintain intimate relationships, how to plan for a career, and how to deal with conflicts with classmates, parents, etc.
In order to make mental health education more popular, it is necessary to establish an education and management system with full participation and all-round coverage. Only in this way can we better prevent mental health problems, detect potential risks early, and reduce the incidence of psychological crises. Until then, we must acknowledge the importance of mental health, and that solving psychological problems requires the joint attention and efforts of the whole society.
To sum up, mental health assessment is part of the solution to the mental health problems of adolescents in mainland China, but it is only the beginning. With the development of society, we need to establish a more comprehensive mental health system, including prevention, screening, assessment, early warning intervention, aftercare and protection, to ensure that every teenager can enjoy the rights and interests of mental health.