In general, at least 30 million Chinese aged 7 to 18 have experienced emotional or behavioral problems. [Photo/VCG] Experts advise clinical treatment for inability to focus during school classes Mental health specialists warned of rising mental health issues among Chinese children and adolescents including attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, which now hits roughly 5 percent of them. If left untreated, between 10 to 20 percent of those with ADHD would develop serious symptoms such as underdeveloped speech, defiance, prolonged distress or anxiety, according to experts at a news conference hosted by the National Health Commission on Wednesday. In general, at least 30 million Chinese aged 7 to 18 have experienced emotional or behavioral problems, including ADHD, depression or selfharm, according to Liu Huaqing, head of the clinical psychology department at Beijing Huilongguan Hospital, who cited a report by the China Youth and Children Research Center in 2005. Worse, clinical observations have found a rise in mental health issues among them, he said. He recommended professional diagnosis and treatment, and an enhanced national effort to address the issue. The global picture isn't bright. The World Health Organization estimates that the number of children with mental illnesses will climb 50 percent by 2020, making it one of the five leading causes of disability and death. Because of the social stigma associated with mental disabilities and a lack of public awareness, a mere 20 percent of young people with mental illnesses worldwide get proper treatment. In a choice between psychological counseling and a mental health clinic, I advise the latter, said Cao Qingjiu, head of children's ward at Peking University Sixth Hospital. If a child's anxiety or depression impairs daily functioning, take them to the hospital immediately. In Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, a middle school recently installed closed-circuit TV cameras in classrooms to capture students' facial expressions and behavioral changes to assess their ability to concentrate in class. Cao said security cameras can help identify children with ADHD. A fleeting moment of absence of mind is normal, but if a student keeps fidgeting and can't focus for a long time, he should go see a doctor, he said. Liu, the clinical psychologist, described a phenomenon prevalent among his visitors at the hospital. Two-thirds of my patients were sent far away to their grandparents in early childhood, Liu said. The sense of being abandoned frustrates them and renders them vulnerable to emotional anxiety. Liu added that parents should stay close to their children as much as possible before age 6. No matter how busy you are as a millennial parent, it's your responsibility to rear your children and give them a healthy future. Wang Xiaoyu contributed to this story. fabric braceletsdesign your own wristbandmotivational wristbands for athletes24 hour wristbands coupon code
The distance between Chengde, Hebei province, and Saihanba National Forest Park, China's largest man-made woodland, is just 150 kilometers, but in September 1962, it took 18-year-old Yin Guizhi two days in an open truck to complete a journey marked by nonstop jolting and endless vistas of yellow soil dotted with thickets of trees. Having just graduated from a vocational school in Chengde, I asked to come here, together with two of my classmates. We were told the country was going to cultivate a forest, lush and beautiful. Just the thought of it was enough to get me onboard, said Yin, now 73. She and her colleagues were warmly welcomed and treated to what the locals called black flour buns. Impressed more by the hospitality than the food, Yin had no idea what was to come a month later, when winter began. We lived in improvised shelters propped up on tree trunks and covered with twigs and straw. The glassless windows were covered with paper, and in place of doors we used large planks of wood that left big gaps on both sides, Yin said. That was where we entered and exited our shelters, and where the winter winds came howling in. Occasionally at night, a sleepless Yin caught glimpses of the glinting green eyes of wolves, which prowled around the shelters but didn't try to enter. Often on winter mornings, she woke to discover her felt blanket had frozen solid to the wooden bed and she had to use a shovel to scrape it off. Little by little, a straw mat one of Yin's colleagues used to sleep on the earthen floor became increasingly damp, indicating that the frozen ground was thawing and meltwater was seeping through. I felt that the debilitating cold was not only biting my toes, on which I applied soothing mashed potato, but also gnawing at any warmth I managed to retain in my heart, Yin said. Again and again, I looked back to that vivacious young woman who just a few months before had believed she was here to stay. I tried desperately not to let reality snuff out that precious flame of hope. For those who were at Saihanba, which means beautiful highland, in 1962 and'63, the first two years of its existence, clinging to hope meant not only facing up to the harsher side of nature, but also to repeated failures. More than 90 percent of the seedlings planted in those first two years died. Saihanba, which covers 92,000 hectares and borders the southern edge of the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, was so volatile and untamable that people had forgotten that it was once regarded as one of the most beautiful places on Earth.
