China's Ministry of Public Health is planning to train more
qualified psychology therapists and set up more professional
psychology clinics in the country's major hospitals to give proper
treatment to the increasing number of psychologically disturbed
Chinese.
World Health Organization's statistics show that psychological
diseases have replaced respiratory, cardiovascular and
cerebrovascular diseases and cancer to be the biggest threat to the
health of Chinese people.
Statistics released by Ministry of Public Health in 1998 showed 5
percent of Chinese were suffering from varying degrees of
psychiatric, psychological disturbance, while 13 in every thousand
Chinese suffered from neurotic illnesses. In addition 20 to 30
percent of students in middle school and university had
psychological problems.
Experts say that the high incidence of psychiatric and
psychological diseases can be attributed to excessive pressure from
work and study, the fast pace of life and complicated human
relations.
Li
Xintian, professor with the Institute of the Psychological Research
of Chinese Academy of
Sciences said that anxiety, depression and phobias are the
major causes of mental disorders among Chinese who go to see
psychological doctors.
Since 1995 more Chinese with psychological illnesses, especially
those who lived in big cities, have realized the importance of
psychological treatment and have started to seek help at psychology
clinics.
Zhao Xudong, a medical practitioner and head of the No. 1 hospital
attached to Kunming medical faculty, opened China's first
professional psychological clinic in 1994.
Zhao said that he treats more than 20,000 patients annually and
uses different types of psychotherapies such as consultation,
hypnotism, and physiological image pattern analysis.
It
is quite possible to cure patients who suffer anxiety or depression
if the treatment is given properly, he added.
However, statistics show that China only has 200 to 300
professional psychological therapists, far fewer than needed.
To
meet the demand, the Health Ministry has urged all the city
hospitals across the country to set up psychological services and
demanded all the country's major hospitals to open a psychological
section.
In
addition, the Ministry of Labor and Social Security and Ministry of
Personnel have jointly entrusted experts to draw up examination and
registration regulations for psychological therapists so as to
standardize the country's psychotherapy section.
The regulations, to be issued in the near future, require
psychological personnel to have more professional knowledge to
guarantee their service quality.
International forums on psychological therapy are frequently held
in the major large cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Kunming,
Harbin and Chengdu. They aim to promote cooperation between China's
psychologists and their overseas counterparts.
Ji
Jianlin, professor with the medical college of Shanghai Fudan
University, said that how to apply the advanced Western
psychological therapeutic theories in the treatment of Chinese
patients who are from a traditional Oriental culture and method of
thinking is becoming a big challenge for Chinese psychological
therapists.
( January 14, 2002)