October 10th is World Mental Health Day. Psychological health and mental health are important components of health, and the mental health of children and adolescents particularly affects the hearts of every family.
Incorporate mental health work into the scope of comprehensive deepening reform and comprehensive social governance; Strengthen the construction of children's social and psychological service system; Carry out three special promotion actions, emphasizing early intervention... The reporter learned from the press conference of the National Health Commission on the 9th that relevant departments and all sectors of society are working together to actively address the mental health problems of children and adolescents, and safeguard their beautiful future.
Comprehensive implementation of policies to enhance children's ability to promote mental health
The key to the mental health work of children and adolescents is to adhere to prevention first and group prevention and control, "said Li Dachuan, Deputy Director of the Medical Affairs Department of the National Health Commission. This requires attention from various departments, industries, and even the entire society. It is very important to integrate this work into the social service system, public health service system, and social security system to promote coordinated efforts.
Issuing the Guiding Opinions on Strengthening Mental Health Services, making clear arrangements for improving the mental health work of children and adolescents; The central government will allocate special funds to support pilot projects for the prevention and treatment of common mental disorders and the promotion of mental health among children and adolescents; The "Special Action Plan for Comprehensively Strengthening and Improving the Mental Health Work of Students in the New Era (2023-2025)" clarifies the work responsibilities of government departments at all levels, and includes student mental health work in the evaluation of provincial people's governments' performance of educational responsibilities... It is reported that the National Health Commission, together with relevant departments, has carried out a series of work in recent years to promote children's mental health.
Liu Peijun, Deputy Director of the Department of Sports, Health, and Art Education of the Ministry of Education, and First Level Inspector, stated that promoting physical and mental health should be a fundamental prerequisite for students' comprehensive development, integrated into all aspects of education, teaching, management and services, as well as various environments in families, schools, and society, to create good conditions for students' physical and mental health development.
Early intervention focuses on multiple factors affecting children's mental health
Zheng Yi, the chief expert in pediatric psychiatry at Beijing Anding Hospital affiliated with Capital Medical University, stated that children and adolescents are in a period of rapid psychological development, and multiple internal and external factors, including biological, psychological, social, and environmental factors, can have an impact on their mental health.
Experts introduce that the internal causes of mental health problems in children and adolescents mainly include cognitive, emotional, and behavioral biases that may occur during the psychological development process, such as cognitive distortion, emotional instability, poor resilience, and insufficient psychological resilience; External factors mainly include pressure caused by relevant environments such as family, school, and society, such as parental education methods and early education adaptation.
If mental health problems cannot be diagnosed and treated in a timely manner, they may affect life. Zheng Yi said that early intervention is crucial. It is recommended that parents pay attention to subtle changes in their children's emotions and behaviors in daily life, such as changes in sleep habits, eating problems, etc., and learn to identify whether their children are suffering from psychological disorders, normal psychological development, and changes during adolescence. If the situation is serious, it is necessary to have the doctor conduct a correct evaluation as soon as possible.
Collaborating Family and School to Create a Good Growth Ecology
Currently, schools, families, and various sectors of society are increasingly paying attention to the mental health of children and adolescents. Among the multiple entities that care for the mental health of children and adolescents, the closest ones to them are teachers and parents.
The school pays close attention to and cares for students, making them 'at home', and the family is good at educating their children, making them 'at home as at school'. Liu Peijun said that in terms of the school, teachers and staff of all subjects should take responsibility for students' mental health work, and create harmonious teacher-student and classmate relationships. At the same time, the family is also a special campus, and parents can actively cooperate with the school to do a good job in educating their children's mental health, establish correct views on family education, parenting, and growth, and master the methods and skills of mental health education for children and adolescents.
Li Dachuan stated that many regions across the country continue to actively carry out work, providing guarantee measures for promoting children's mental health in resource allocation, financial investment, and talent cultivation. Next, the National Health Commission will continue to increase its efforts and improve relevant assessment and promotion mechanisms.
