May 25 is the tenth "College Students Mental Health Day" in China.
World Health Organization (WHO) define health in this way, "it’s not health merely without disease or weakness; health is an excellent and perfect state in terms of physical, psychological and social adaptation." It can be seen that the health is not only about physical health, it’s more concerned about people's mental health and social adaptability. And mental health and social adaptation of college students is an important indicator of health in terms of intellectual development and brain function. China establishes May 25 each year as " College Students Mental Health Day", and this year's campaign theme is "Facing the pressure and flying the dream.".
Related research found that, in recent years, the proportion of university students with serious psychological problems has been increasing each year, with common syndromes like obsessive-compulsive symptoms, depression, interpersonal sensitivity, hostility and anxiety. A survey in Beijing found that prevalence rate of students suffering from tristimania has reached 23.66%. Based on this, it’s estimated that in Beijing no less than 10 million thousand university students are suffering from depression (tristimania). A survey by Beijing University showed that a certain proportion of college students are network addicts, accounting for 6.4% of interviewees. According to a survey conducted in 16 universities in Beijing, students who have suspended or dropped their school due to mental illness account for 37.9% and 64.4% respectively of all the drop-outs. Mental illness in colleges and universities has become the main reason for students dropping out of school.
Several reasons can explain the psychological problems of college students. First of all, academic pressure and employment pressure make some students lose self-confidence, have low self-esteem and feel unable to control their own future, hence the depression, anxiety, fear and other psychological problems. Secondly, college students are not adaptive enough to the new environment, lack of social experience results in social discomfort, which in turn leads to depression. For college students, frustration in social interaction should not be ignored. The third reason is the issue of love and sex. College time is a critical period in psychological development, setbacks in love can easily result in psychological depression, and even more serious psychological problems, such as suicide, impulsive, and wounding.
But psychological problems of college students can be prevented. Colleges can carry out health education, set up mental health programs, so as to enhance students’ ability to deal with frustration and to establish harmonious interpersonal relationships. The education sector should collaborate with the Ministry of Health to open more (the Ministry of Health) doors for students with serious psychological problems. To curb psychological problems, helping agencies can develop work plan to facilitate early identification, so that students with problems can as soon as possible go to the school counseling center or mental health institutions for treatment, with more access to effective treatment and intervention to promote the prognosis of mental illness.
We believe that with the joint efforts of parents, schools, professionals and government agencies at all levels, mental health of university students will gain the concern attention of from the whole society. They will be healthier, happier, and more passionate to become pillars of the country.