National College Student Mental Health Day, college students' mental health has become a hot topic
How should colleges and universities take care of students' mental health?
May 5 is National College Student Mental Health Day. In recent years, college students' mental health has become a hot topic. How can college students tell if they have a mental illness? What can you do after suspecting that you have a mental illness? How should colleges and universities take care of the mental health of college students?
What is the mental health of college students?
Not long ago, the Institute of Psychology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Social Sciences Literature Publishing House jointly released the "2022 College Students' Mental Health Survey Report". Its findings show that the mental health of contemporary college students is generally good. The report pointed out that 21.48% of college students may be at risk of depression and 45.28% may be at risk of anxiety. At the same time, the report also disclosed that students in key universities have a higher risk of depression and anxiety than college students in non-key universities; Undergraduate students have a significantly higher risk of depression and anxiety than specialist students.
Tan Jianfeng, deputy dean of the School of Humanities and Management, director of the Mental Health Education and Counseling Center, doctor of psychology and associate professor of psychology, introduced to the Yangcheng Evening News reporter that the high incidence of mental illness among college students is more representative of depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorder. Among them, the incidence of bipolar disorder has increased in recent years, and the treatment of bipolar disorder is more complex than depression and anxiety, and it is easier to be ignored by those around them. "Colleges and universities and society as a whole should raise awareness of bipolar disorder." Tan Jianfeng said.
"Hollow heart disease" is also a new concept that has emerged in recent years. The so-called hollow heart disease means that students have no motivation to study, no pursuit in life, nor any things of interest, and even less and less communication and contact with others. Tan Jianfeng pointed out that some college students do not know how to grasp the scale of "combining work and rest" and blindly pursue comfort and pleasure. Under the influence of multiple factors, the trend of hollow heart disease among college students has become more and more obvious.
How can I tell if I have a mental illness?
When many students experience setbacks, they will experience emotions such as sadness, and severe cases will even affect their lives. So, how can college students correctly judge whether they are in a bad mood or have a mental illness?
In this regard, Tan Jianfeng said that cognition, emotion and will are the three basic subjective psychological activities of people, and are the three dimensions to assess a person's mental health. Cognition is mainly about the understanding of "how", emotions are mainly about the understanding of "how it should be", and the will is mainly about the understanding of "how to do". From these three aspects, it is necessary to make longitudinal comparisons (comparing with your past self), horizontal comparisons (comparing with people around you and with public standards), and judging whether your own situation is consistent with the real environment.
"If there is a big difference and mismatch in the three levels, you need to consider the possibility of mental illness and mental illness." Tan Jianfeng said that if students are immersed in emotions for 1 month or even 3 months after experiencing a certain trauma, it may belong to the stage of "psychological problems"; If it exceeds 6 months and affects normal life and interpersonal communication, it may have developed to the level of "psychological disorder". "If it develops into a mental illness, it must be treated in time." Tan Jianfeng emphasized.
How do colleges and universities care for the mental health of college students?
Nowadays, many colleges and universities have carried out activities such as mental health day stalls, and have also built psychological counseling rooms, equipped with psychological counselors, etc., opened compulsory courses of "College Students' Mental Health Education", and used public accounts, class meetings and other forms to popularize psychological knowledge.
Xu of Guangdong Technical Normal University said that the school often carries out mental health-related activities, and the class committee regularly forwards psychology-related tweets from relevant public accounts, disseminating psychology-related knowledge through new media, and encouraging and calling on college students to pay attention to mental health issues. Chen from Guangdong Institute of Finance said that the school's college students have rich mental health activities, including psychological knowledge competitions, sign language competitions, etc., as well as related group activities. Chen said, "I think these activities can help college students learn about relevant knowledge, help others and help themselves. ”
When we find that the classmates around us have mental illness or psychological disorders, how should we treat them?
Tam said that we should face students with mental illness or psychological disorders with an attitude of "acceptance". Specifically, there are three things to do: the first is to listen for support, and they are eager to be listened to. The second is to understand acceptance, sometimes, their behavior may make ordinary people feel a little strange, do not understand why the other party has such thoughts. When expressing concern, it is recommended to try to change the angle and questioning method, from the questioning statement "why do you do this" to "what makes you think like this", showing a friendly attitude of "I want to know you and care about you" and "you are not alone". The third is to accompany the doctor, as a person around you, you can accompany the other party to the psychiatric department and other departments to seek help and active treatment.
In addition to promoting preventive and medical treatment, Tan Jianfeng also specifically mentioned: "Schools and families should create an 'acceptance' environment so that the owners of problems can settle down, so as to present the problems and causes very calmly." Tan Jianfeng said that it is necessary to look at children with appreciative eyes, and cannot use past evaluation standards and so-called personal life experiences to judge, define and label. (Yangcheng Evening News reporter Sun Wei, intern Zheng Ruotong)