Original link: https://shinekid.com/2022/08/an-interview-with-ms-yuen-shan/
On July 4, 2022, the “People’s Daily” client released the ” 2022 National Depression Blue Book “. And a set of data mentioned in it, “The lifetime prevalence rate of adult depression in China is 6.8%, of which depression is 3.4%. At present, the number of people suffering from depression in China is 95 million, and about 280,000 people commit suicide every year, of which 40% suffer from depression. Depression.”
This once again aroused everyone’s attention to topics such as mental health and psychological counseling. At this time, we had the honor to interview Mr. Yuan Shan, a public welfare and friendly psychological counselor of “Excellent Partner”.
Teacher Yuan Shan’s job is a people’s teacher, and her becoming a psychological consultant also has certain inevitability and contingency.
Ms. Yuan Shan said that her relationship with “psychology” can be traced back to her high school days. At that time, the first book she borrowed in the library was Freud ‘s “The Interpretation of Dreams “, and this book It also became Yuan Shan’s earliest contact with “psychology”.
Years later, when Ms. Yuan Shan faced her son’s “Internet addiction problem”, she, who was already a teacher, began to try to solve this problem from the aspects of family education and psychology. It is precisely for this purpose that Ms. Yuan Shan officially embarked on the road of becoming a psychologist and began to try to obtain relevant qualifications after her son graduated from college. Finally, in 2013, Yuan Shan became a national second-level professional psychological counselor recognized by the state.
Although she has obtained the national second-level psychological counselor certificate, Yuan Shan has not really become a psychological counselor. Until the outbreak of the epidemic, Yuan Shan began to think about whether she could contribute something to the response to the epidemic. So Ms. Yuan Shan began to study mental health problems under the epidemic and began to provide psychological counseling services for everyone.
Although public mental health is a hot topic right now, many people are unable to distinguish the difference between a “psychologist” and a “psychiatrist”. On this issue, Mr. Yuan Shan gave us popular science in simple words.
Ms. Yuan Shan said that general psychologists have no medical background, so they do not have the “diagnosis rights” and “prescription rights” for mental diseases. Especially when it comes to depression, anxiety and other diseases, only psychiatrists have the right to diagnose and give prescriptions. When receiving clients, psychological counselors usually ask about their diagnosis and give corresponding help based on the diagnosis.
Ms. Yuan Shan emphasized that drugs are indispensable in the treatment of mental illness. Especially for critically ill patients, following the doctor’s orders is also a rigid requirement.
After popularizing the profession of a psychologist, we were very curious to ask how Ms. Yuan Shan became attached to the LGBTQ community.
Regarding this question, Ms. Yuan Shan said with a smile that the profession of psychological counseling will inevitably involve the topic of “sexual psychology”, and this topic cannot be bypassed by the LGBTQ group in any case. It is for this reason that Teacher Yuan Shan began to try to contact and understand this group.
Before really getting in touch with and understanding the LGBTQ community, Ms. Yuan Shan, like most people, learned about LGBTQ through literary and artistic works. It’s just that Ms. Yuan Shan was interested in LGBTQ-related literary and artistic works from the earliest days, so she will have more awareness of the LGBTQ community accordingly.
After talking about this topic, Yuan Shan emphasized that many people’s prejudice against the LGBTQ group actually comes from their lack of understanding of this group. And once you get to know this group, you will find that the LGBTQ group is nothing special to the general heterosexual and cisgender group.
When we talked about LGBTQ topics, I was very curious about the difference between the LGBTQ community and the general population, and then asked if there was anything special about LGBTQ mental health.
Regarding this doubt, Ms. Yuan Shan first said that the mental health problems of many people in the LGBTQ community stem from the key issue of “self-identity”. As for how to promote LGBTQ people to better “self-identify”, Mr. Yuan said that this is a very large and complex issue. Because this question is not only about the level of enlightenment in our society, but also about the level of acceptance that is specific to the family behind each LGBTQ person.
Teacher Yuan said with some regret that compared with LGBTQ people who were accepted by their families, the prevalence of depression among LGBTQ people who were not accepted by their families was 5.9 times higher, and the rate of suicide attempts was 8.4 times higher. But the mental health of LGBTQ people who can identify with themselves and be accepted by their families is not much different from the average heterosexual and cisgender people.
In addition to talking about mental health, we and Ms. Yuan also talked about a topic that is difficult for LGBTQ people to avoid, that is, “coming out”.
Ms. Yuan Shan said that for most LGBTQ people, their families are their most important and most anticipated supporters, so for them, “coming out” is sometimes a matter of family acceptance, which is ultimately about self issue of recognition. Only when LGBTQ people’s self-identification beliefs are strong enough, can they influence the people around them, and then they won’t be shaken and entangled when they “come out” with people who have a close relationship with their parents. With the support of their parents, LGBTQ people have greater courage to face the challenges of society and come out to more people.
Teacher Yuan Shan also said that when family members accept their children “coming out”, they will go through a process of denial, anger, guilt, negotiation, and finally tend to accept. Only the LGBTQ community itself is strong enough to understand and accept their parents in the process. Only when both parties accept each other can there be real reconciliation and “coming out”.
Teacher Yuan said: “I believe that our parents’ love for their children will overcome prejudice and those discriminations. Because every family member wants their children to live happily, how can we make our children live happily? Just let him be who he is.”
At the end of the interview, Mr. Yuan also reluctantly talked about the society’s incomprehension of their psychologists. For example, why do psychologists charge “high” fees just to chat with patients; and many people equate mental disorders, mental illnesses with mental illnesses, and then have a “stigma” and have a negative impact on psychologists. rejection mentality.
“But fortunately, I feel that the acceptance of psychological counseling among sexual minorities is really higher than these heterosexual people, because I am often doing public welfare counseling, and I will receive a lot of them. Sexual minorities’ calls.” Teacher Yuan Shan said.
When we were about to end the interview, Ms. Yuan Shan once again asked us to remind everyone that if LGBTQ people have doubts or obstacles in terms of mental health, especially those LGBTQ patients who have been diagnosed with depression or anxiety, they should seek medical advice as soon as possible. The help of a psychologist.
Moreover, Teacher Yuan also reminded that LGBTQ people are better to choose those who are relatively friendly to LGBTQ people when consulting psychological counselors. Due to the inconsistent training time of domestic psychological counselors, some psychological counselors and even psychiatrists are still bound by the early diagnosis and treatment guidelines, and even believe that homosexuality is a disease that can be reversed through “treatment”.
In the end, Mr. Yuan said that the excellent partner of the LGBTQ public welfare organization has a friendly public welfare psychological consultant, and she is also one of them. Compared with ordinary psychologists, the public welfare psychologists of excellent partners will be more friendly to LGBTQ people and understand them at the same time.
“Finding a psychologist does not mean that you have a mental illness, but only proves that you are the one who is good at seeking help when you encounter difficulties. You are the one who has the courage to seek help from others.” Yuan Shan said finally.
The Watcher of the Mind – An Interview with Excellent Partner and Friendly Psychological Consultant Mr. Yuan Shan first appeared on ShineKid .
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