"Life is meaningless!" Is there a serious mental health problem among Taiwanese children? Experts reveal 5 situations that should be evaluated as soon as possible
“Life is meaningless” Why do children show resistance or depression?
At the end of 2023, Taiwan’s campuses were not peaceful. The Juvenile Incident Handling Act was revised and came into effect in July of that year. A few months later, a major campus neck-cutting incident shocked society. Although the government has designated the promotion of adolescent mental health as a key health education task, the risk factors for children’s mental health are closely related to the family and social environment. How to detect early and appropriately evaluate and intervene in emotional coaching or professional consultation to prevent the occurrence of the problem? Otherwise, preventing children from becoming “at-risk teenagers” is a serious issue for both the family and the social support system.
“The biggest problem facing children in Taiwan is still the pressure to enter higher education and the education system. If the environment requires a child to develop in a way that is not in line with his temperament and nature, over time it may lead to external “resistance” or internal “repression” problems. , which is certainly detrimental to children’s mental health in the long run!”
Ren Wanning-Wanshu, an expert in drama psychology, a registered tutor of the North American Society of Dramatic Psychology, and the founder of the drama heart growth education team, accepted an exclusive interview with “healthorn” and said that during the one-on-one emotional coaching process, he found that many children started in elementary school and junior high school. After tutoring, there are early signs of depression such as feeling that “life is meaningless”, and parents may not be able to understand their children’s true inner thoughts from the outside. Long-term stress accumulation is like a high-temperature pressure cooker. Once it breaks out, the harm to yourself or others may be difficult to predict.
Wan Shu said that based on the age group of children, kindergarten children are more likely to face separation anxiety and friendship problems, and may also use inappropriate methods to attract attention in group activities; in elementary school, in addition to friendship problems, they may also face the inability to speak out for themselves. Or the dilemma of peer bullying; after junior high school, academic pressure, finding motivation for self-study and other issues are more common.
Will it happen naturally when children grow up? Expert: Emotional ability requires continuous training
“Through one-to-one emotional coaching, we can use drama psychology to do two things. Children without any diagnosis can help them develop their potential and develop the emotional abilities they need for growth. This is like giving introverted children a little speech. The characteristics of the family and the active child help him develop a focused philosopher. Eventually, these emotional abilities will become the soft power to cope with stress. Secondly, through the learning of emotional coaches, we can prevent the accumulation of long-term psychological stress in children and even intervene early. Dealing with impulse control and other issues!”
Uncle Wan pointed out that many parents think that “children will get it naturally when they grow up.” In fact, emotional ability, like mathematical ability, requires time and continuous practice to improve. For parents, it is more important to realize that asking children to do things that they cannot do, such as developing unsuitable talents, will cause psychological pressure on the children. Drama psychology integrates Taoism through the possibility of playing different roles. The flowing philosophical thinking of “Tai Chi” allows children to accept and learn their own unique characteristics, which helps improve various mental health conditions, including behavioral impulsivity.
For example, Uncle Wan once had a child who had difficulty controlling impulses. He told his parents that he wanted to go to the park at 3 o’clock in the morning but was stopped. He actually had the idea of jumping off a building. His thoughts were so fast that he could be called “The Flash”, which also made the parents very troubled. . Through the training of “playing the role of chef” in the emotional script, the child was gradually helped to improve his concentration, and it also allowed him to discover that he likes to take care of others. His concentration in games was extended from 3 minutes to 40 minutes, and the growth rate surprised everyone.
IQ and EQ need to be balanced and children should learn about 5 conditions as soon as possible
“The focus of the drama psychology corner is the balance of the characters. In fact, IQ and EQ also need to be balanced. Some parents have really high requirements for academic performance. In contrast, children should also develop sufficient emotional abilities and balance sensibility. More importantly, The most important thing is how to detect and prevent the accumulation of psychological stress in children early!”
Uncle Wan further pointed out that when children have the following situations, such as:
Highly sensitive and introverted personality, usually very gentle and empathetic to others, but once emotions break out, they cannot control themselves for a long time or cannot express properly;
Have a tendency to be restless and are in trouble Assistance and guidance are needed in terms of concentration and impulse control;
The single-parent status of the family or long-term parental discord leads to emotional instability in the child;
The child becomes “over-mature” and appears to be “parental” in taking care of others, leading to neglect of oneself. needs;
Unsatisfactory interpersonal interactions and tendency to think negatively, similar to Asperger’s syndrome.
It is recommended to seek early guidance from an emotional coach or to assist in assessment and referral.
Taiwan should not go to Hell Joseon. Emotional education should be integrated into campus learning.
“Our education system still needs continuous improvement. When adults require children to continuously enrich the so-called “learning process,” should we consider incorporating “emotional education” into the school? We certainly don’t want Taiwan to become a “Hell Joseon” in the future, and we don’t want to see children’s psychological problems evolve into social incidents again. Therefore, how to guide children to develop their own talents is indeed the key!”
Uncle Wan said that whenever social incidents occur between children and children, the most important thing is how to understand the status and motivations behind the children through cross-system cooperation between families, schools, governments, and consultative education units, so that parents, children, teachers, and social workers can Units and counseling experts have the opportunity to “open a dialogue” and find out the key to preventing regrets from happening in the future. The issue of emotional ability, which is generally lacking among Taiwanese students, should be continuously promoted by combining efforts from all walks of life to truly help children face different difficulties. Develop adaptive talents and start a better life.
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