Jilted girl: I now take the initiative to meet new boys
Chen Yuan, a junior university student, felt particularly lonely
and quite depressed after her boyfriend left her. Though she has
visited many places throughout China, Chen decided to join the
psychotherapy tour group once she knew that psychologists would
also be taking part in the expedition.
"This is first time I have traveled without friends or family. On
the first day, I barely even greeted the others. On the second day,
when we climbed the Shimenjian Mountain, we all started to get to
know one another. By the fourth day, we looked as if we were all
brothers and sisters from one big happy family." Chen said.
"I
lost confidence in love after I fell out with my boyfriend. I was
afraid of talking about love and my emotions.
"The trip would actually take us through Jindezhen, the town where
my former boyfriend is now studying. Initially I wanted to go and
see him again, but eventually the idea just dissolved in the cheers
of delight as we arrived in the town."
"I
almost cried out loud when we had to go our separate ways after the
seven-day tour. I managed controlled myself, but still I wanted to
cry when I got back home. In the end, I managed to calm myself down
by counting over 300 buses on the street, a relaxation method shown
to us by a psychologist on the tour."
"I
began to take the initiative of meeting new boys after the trip."
Chen said.
Suicidal white collar lady: life can be great
Li
Yang, a white collar worker, now works for a foreign-funded firm
after having graduated from an overseas university. She still looks
mildly depressed. "My complexion is better now, especially when
compared with the days leading up to the National Holiday." Li
said, "Somebody told me that I looked awful at that time."
She said that she had dressed in black when she first joined the
tour group.
"I
had decided to commit suicide, long before joining the
psychotherapy tour group. I had thought out a detailed plan
including how to end life and how to inform my friends." Li now
seemed mildly embarrassed while discussing her irrational
ideas.
The thought of a seven day holiday was terrifying to Li. Sleepless
nights, headaches, and paralysis made her feel that life had lost
all meaning. No family, nor friends to be with. "Going outside to
look for some delights, the idea turned on me." Li said.
"My parents have been quarrelling since as long as I can remember.
My father often beat my brother and me when he was unhappy. I hope
that my father will apologize to us some day."
"I
had been suffering from insomnia since 1986. I went to see
psychologists, and even sought medical help when I was studying
abroad. But to no avail."
"The trip helped us let go completely. I felt like I had returned
to my childhood. We rowed down rivers and sang many old songs like
A Small Raft' and Let's Row the Two Oars'. I have never felt myself
so relaxed. I began to realize that life can be great."
"I
have been to see several psychologists since I came back. I no
longer feel that people around me are hateful. I have started to
genuinely smile. I have made some new friends on this trip and wish
to make more."
IT manager: I will invite psychologists to give lectures to my
colleagues
Xia Min, an information technology (IT) manager, joined the group
only because she wanted to discover some interesting places and
rest. She was deeply moved by what she saw and heard on the
tour.
"I
do not have any symptoms myself. What I thought most about were my
colleagues. For instance, some of them often carry out their work
with low morale. What causes such a condition? It is salary, or is
it emotion? Once I gain some psychological understanding, I hope to
help them release some of their pressures so as to make our team
more stable and united. I will invite the psychologists to give
lectures to my colleagues someday in an effort to improve the
atmosphere at work."
A father who tore up daughter's test paper now knows how to
befriend her
Meng Fei, a company manager, once tore his daughter's math test
paper into tiny pieces because of her poor performance.
"She cried in anguish. I felt sorry for what I had done and
eventually apologized to her, but later I found that the apology
did nothing to mend her grief. Everyone says that my daughter is
scared of me. I think it is because I am too hard on her."
"We could only take part in the psychotherapy tour for a few days.
My daughter almost broke down in tears when we had to leave the
group. Since then, I now know how to be friends with my
daughter."
Meng said, "When I got home I made a resolution to spend more time
with my daughter chatting and exchanging views."
Tourist guide: I was deeply moved
Guo Yuechen, conference department manager of Beijing Lily Tourist
Agency, participated as tour guide on the psychotherapy tour. "This
group was totally different from others I have met. I really was
totally absorbed by the group and really became one of their
members." Guo said.
"On two occasions I was really moved by the tourists and
psychologists." he said. "The first time was when we had supper at
the Century Old House. A journalist who wanted to interview the
group didn't arrive on time. We could not contact him because his
cell phone was out of range. We waited for him for over an hour
before we decided to set aside his portion and start to eat. My
experiences tell me that most tourists seldom consider others at
the table. But these tourists were different. The second time was
on the way back. All the tourists were talking about life issues
like emotions and love. Unexpectedly, one of my colleagues poured
out his heart. He said that he could not stop himself from counting
the speakers at home otherwise he would begin to feel rather
anxious. Guided by the psychologists, he learned how to adjust his
behavior."
Experts: psychological treatments should go out of
hospitals
Yang Xian, associate professor at the Peking Union Medical College
Hospital and also one of the organizers of the psychotherapy tours,
said 19 tourists took part in the trip to Maoyuan, Jiangxi
Province. Most of them feel the trip has helped them deal with, or
at least ease, some of their psychological problems. These results
are much more promising than compared with just going to see a
doctor at the hospital.
"In fact, very few people with psychological problems even go to
see doctors. Most patients find it hard to admit they have
psychological problems. Moreover, Chinese psychological
consultations only started in the 1980's, so treatments are not
developed enough to meet the needs of many patients.
"I
used to wait to see patients in consulting rooms. The psychotherapy
tour group brought me out of hospitals for the first time. We spent
over one month deciding on the best route. All the arrangements,
such as where to go, what lectures should be given and how to
encourage tourists to exchange views, were all carefully thought
out in advance. The result was beyond my imagination. All the
tourists sought treatment with ease. To some degree, the
psychotherapy tour group has pushed psychological consultation and
treatment out into the open." Yang said.
"Different forms of psychotherapy tour groups will appear in the
future," Yang revealed, "The tours will be held at different times,
such as on weekends, rather than during long holiday periods."
16 million suffer from mental illness
Since the 1980's, mental illness has been on the increase in China.
Currently, over 16 million people are thought to suffer from
psychosis and 26 million suffer from depression.
Among 340 million children under the age of 17, 30 million are
believed to suffer from psychological problems.
Psychological consultation and treatment is proving to be
indispensable to China.
(china.org.cn by Unisumoon October 28, 2002)