Raising awareness of mental health amid the pandemic

An event aimed at raising awareness of mental health among challenges brought by the COVID-19 pandemic was held in Shanghai on Saturday.

The one-day event, which was jointly hosted by The Expatriate Center and the Shanghai International Mental Health Association, opened with a panel discussion between psychologists, educators and entrepreneurs on resilience amid the pandemic.

Two types of workshops — one for professionals and the other for members of the public — were held on topics such as adolescence, suicide, and marriage.

For the public workshop, psychiatrist Christoph Herda gave a speech on when to see a psychiatrist, and Joyce Chen from United Family Healthcare shared the key to resolving conflicts with children. Alexa Camus from Life Advisory Board talked about the secrets of building a happy marriage.

For the professional workshop, Laura Ruesjas from Kare Consulting talked about dialectical behavior therapy for adolescents. Vilia Lyell from Parkway Health spoke about couples therapy, while Chen Tingting shared about art therapy.

Altogether, 17 mental health professionals spoke to more than 100 participants during the event.

George Hu, president of the Shanghai International Mental Health Association, said, "After COVID-19 outbreak, we have seen an explosion of mental health needs both in hospital and non-hospital contexts."

Hu said the association has been working on getting mental health issues more acknowledged by the broader community and lowering the threshold for people to get the services.

"We can be in the school, in the workplace, in the community center, in the residential neighborhood…we have the flexibility to take our services out of the hospital, and the bulk of our work is going to be in the community, because it’s much better to prevent than to treat," he said.

Linda Painan, chairperson of The Expatriate Center, said, "2020 is indeed an unforgettable year, with words such as pandemic, virus, masks and so on becoming part of our daily lives. And as a result, words such as fear, panic, uncertainty and struggle, are increasingly common in our midst.

"The love and care for the community, as shown through the selfless contributions by all the speakers today, signifies hope and sheds light onto maintaining a healthy state of mind."

Jennifer Jost, a US mental health professional participant, said, "The conference provided me with support and a sense of unity. Not only was I able to discuss critical developments in the school counseling profession, but I was also able to share my perspective as an expat. I am passionate about building systems of mental health support in schools as well as raising awareness about mental health in general, and I am hopeful that positive change is on its way in Shanghai with regard to reframing how we think about wellness and wellbeing."