The 'gap' in school mental health.
Pressure from grades, exams, and various relationships negatively impacts the mental health of many students. Meanwhile, for various reasons, this issue has not received adequate attention or timely support...
An increase in the number of students suffering from mental health problems.
The Facebook group "Nghe An Parents," with over 130,000 members, is a forum where many parents participate and share their experiences. Recently, the story of a parent whose child, in 9th grade, was diagnosed with depression has prompted much reflection.
The parents said that due to financial worries, they didn't have much time to pay attention to their child. The child would often talk to them daily, and they would occasionally remind her not to use her phone too much. Recently, the mother accidentally entered the room and found her cutting her wrists with a knife. Later, the family discovered a large quantity of sleeping pills in the child's room. Extremely worried, the family took their child to the doctor and discovered she was suffering from depression due to academic pressure.
In sharing her child's story, this parent also hopes it will serve as a warning to many other families, especially those with children of school age, because a lack of attention, negligence, or care can lead to many unfortunate consequences.
School-age children, with their psychological and physiological changes, can exhibit many uncontrollable behaviors. At Nghe An Psychiatric Hospital, statistics show that from 2020 to September 2024, the number of students admitted for inpatient treatment due to mental health disorders increased rapidly, reaching 965. Of these, 310 suffered from behavioral and emotional disorders.
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Due to a lack of understanding of mental health issues, social stigma, and limited mental health services and resources, most of these students do not receive treatment or support. Early identification of students at risk of mental health problems is crucial to prevent negative consequences.
Dr. Tran Thi Tuyet - Deputy Director of Nghe An Psychiatric Hospital.
Through her many years working in this field, Dr. Tran Anh Tuyet has also pointed out five signs of students at risk of mental health problems through behavioral patterns (irritability, social avoidance), anxiety, depression, and impaired short-term memory. In addition, those with the illness may experience health problems such as frequent headaches, neck and shoulder pain, or a loss of control in certain situations.
Lack of resources to pay attention
SchoolThe school environment is considered crucial for students to learn, train, and grow. However, this environment, with its many different relationships, also exposes students to numerous complex and diverse problems that affect their thoughts, feelings, actions, learning, and overall development.
Regarding school violence alone, in the last two school years, the province has recorded 9 incidents of school violence involving 23 students. However, this is only a small number because many more cases of school violence occur in schools in various forms but go unreported.
Regarding the psychological issues of school-age children, Dr. Tran Hang Ly - Department of Educational Psychology - Vinh University, conducted a survey on the socio-psychological characteristics of secondary school students at Dang Thai Mai Secondary School, Hung Binh Secondary School (Vinh City), Nghi My Secondary School (Nghi Loc), Muong Xen Secondary School, and Ky Son Ethnic Boarding Secondary School (Ky Son). The survey showed that abnormal psychological behavior (also known as aggressive behavior in sociological terms) can occur in both males and females.
Aggression, expressed through anger and loss of control, takes many forms, including physical and attitudinal aggression. Children with high levels of aggression are often those who struggle with communication and problem-solving skills. These children typically lack close friends in class and no one to confide in or share their feelings with.
Additionally, students may become aggressive due to stress levels in the classroom, their relationship with their parents, parental reactions to mistakes, the influence of video games, misconceptions about violence, and problem-solving skills.
Given the above difficulties, paying attention to the mental health of school-aged children is essential. However, current shortcomings include a lack of necessary resources in the implementation of school psychology programs, such as insufficient facilities and equipment for counseling rooms, a lack of responsible institutions, and a lack of a management system for school psychology within schools. Furthermore, there is a lack of coordination among various forces, agencies, and departments in school psychology activities; and community awareness of this activity remains low or inaccurate…
Since the beginning of 2024, the Department of Education and Training has collaborated with the Institute for Training and Development of Human Resources to pilot a model of Social Work and Psychological Counseling in general education institutions at 9 schools in Dien Chau and Que Phong districts and Vinh City.
The aim is to build a safe, healthy, and friendly educational environment where students actively participate in preventing school violence, accidents, injuries, drowning, and social ills from infiltrating schools, and to support disadvantaged students.
In relation to this issue, Nghe An province recently organized a workshop on School Mental Health Care in Nghe An: From Policy to Practice.
From there, solutions were proposed, including awareness campaigns and psychological counseling programs to help adolescents improve their learning and emotional well-being within their families and society. Simultaneously, efforts were made to build safe and inclusive schools and enhance the mental health of middle and high school students in the new context.
