Some 30 million Chinese teenagers under 17 years old suffer some
degree of psychological problems, said the Ministry of Public
Health Friday.
Psychological and mental problems among juveniles have become
prominent as the country is changing fast into a modern society and
mental illness becomes the top disease, the Ministry said.
China now has 16 million people suffering mental illness,
accounting for 20 percent of the total number of patients.
Many neglected to seek treatment in the early stage of their
illness in part because the Chinese public, adults as well as
youth, don't have a good awareness of mental illness and
psychological problems, the administration said.
The Communist Youth League of China, the Ministry of Public
Health, the Ministry of Education and China Youth Daily
jointly kicked off a program Friday to improve the psychological
education and counseling in schools.
Teachers in primary and high schools in remote rural areas will
receive training in psychology while a website is to open and a
manual to be published for college students to deal with their
psychological problems, according to the three to five-year
program.
On Feb. 23 this year, a student of Yunnan University in
southwest China named Ma Jiajue is suspected of having killed four
classmates in his dormitory. Press here connected the slayings much
to the psychological problems of the young man.
(Xinhua News Agency April 4, 2004)