On November 18, 2002, Tsinghua University offered spot
psychological tests to its first-year students. The university
hopes to know more about the mentality of those freshmen so as to
give them better instructions and prevent mental problems.
At
around 8:30 a.m., over 3,000 freshmen gathered in the school's
gymnasium, where Dr. Wang Long, director of the Psychological
Consulting Center of Tsinghua
University, was giving a lecture on psychological health.
When Dr. Wang mentioned the word yumen (depressed), many
students laughed, showing how popularly it has been used while
referring themselves. At the end, when Dr. Wang asked all the
students to play a game -- shaking hands with their neighbors, the
atmosphere warmed up. Many students flocked to shake hands with
people around, but there were still some young people hesitated in
doing so, and some even remained sitting alone.
As
for the general situation of college students' mental health, Dr.
Wang said it is not optimistic. He pointed out that the freshmen at
Tsinghua University, who used to be top students in high schools,
are very likely to feel depressed because they have to face fierce
competitions in class. Most of them are not psychologically mature
enough to handle such problems as those emerged in studies,
emotions and social relationships.
Dr. Wang suggested that students improve themselves by
participating more social activities. "It is important in
particular to know how to communicate with people of the opposite
sex," he said. "There should be a correct understanding of one's
love life, so that all students can enjoy happy courtships while
concentrating on their studies."
At
the end of the lecture, a questionnaire containing as many as 60
questions was delivered to each student. Teachers at the
psychological consulting center believe that major psychological
problems will be exposed through answering these questions, such as
if one is interested in one's academic studies, if one is emotional
and if one often suffers from headache or insomnia.
(china.org.cn by Zheng Guihong, November 21, 2002)