China News Service, Shanghai, August 20th: Why did "Shanghai No. 600 Hospital" "out of the circle"?
Dean Zhao Min talks about "squatting down" to listen
Reporter Zheng Yingying
"No. 600 Wanping South Road" is a special place in Shanghai. For a long time, it was a "non-disclosure corner" in the city. Unexpectedly, it "out of the circle" in the past two years.
From "No. 600 Mooncake" to "No. 600 Mask", "No. 600 Cultural and Creative" has become popular on the Internet.
"No. 600 Wanping South Road" is actually the address of the Xuhui Campus of the Shanghai Mental Health Center.
Zhao Min, director of the Shanghai Mental Health Center, said, "In the past, people used '600' when scolding people. Now everyone can make fun of it, which shows that the public can accept mental health diseases, and they will not avoid them if they have problems."
"Being out of the circle is something we didn't expect. We do so much cultural and creative work to make more people pay attention to mental health," she said.
Walking into "No. 600", it seems to be no different from other hospitals.
Zhao Min, with short short hair and a white coat, as one of the "most beautiful tech workers" in Shanghai in 2022, talked about the importance of "squatting down" and listening during the treatment of mental illness.
"No. 600 Wanping South Road" is a special place in Shanghai, which is the address of the Xuhui Campus of the Shanghai Mental Health Center.
Photo by Zheng Yingying
Parents have to "squat" down to see the problem from the child's cognitive level
Zhao Min specializes in addiction medicine. One of the things that makes her feel more fulfilled is that the Shanghai Mental Health Center participated in the process of including gaming addiction in the World Health Organization disease classification.
In 2018, the World Health Organization released the eleventh edition of the International Classification of Diseases, which for the first time listed "gaming disorder" (also known as "gaming addiction") as one of the mental disorders.
Zhao Min's team, on behalf of China, participated in the research on the diagnostic guidelines for mental disorders in the International Classification of Diseases.
Zhao Min explained that it turned out that many people came for help, but doctors could not diagnose and treat it, because it was not classified as a "disease" at that time, and it was difficult for medical institutions to provide help.
At that time, the treatment of game addiction in society was chaotic, causing great suffering to patients, especially adolescent patients and their families.
Zhao Min said that adolescence is a susceptible period, and children's brains are in a developing stage.
And game-addicted children actually have a variety of psychological factors, such as lack of peer support, high parental expectations, and high learning pressure.
The child is insecure, and then escapes to the game to find it.
Zhao Min said, "If the whole lifestyle is healthy, children will not be addicted to games. We advocate healthy games and healthy use of electronic products."
In Zhao Min's view, parents need to learn to accept their children, "Parents have to squat down, be at the same level as the child, and look at the problem from his cognitive perspective, then you can understand why he thinks so. If the parents don't understand, the child will slowly If you don’t want to talk, the door of communication is closed.”
She said that in this process, parents have to put in a lot of effort, listen to their children, understand what their children are thinking, and find their motivations. "It's a good thing that your children are willing to talk to you."
"It's important to keep the conversation going," she stressed.
Because of her major, Zhao Min said that she understands her children better, and will stop and think when she perceives a problem, and then solve the problem.
Understanding is important, including dealing with depression.
She said that sometimes family members will tell the patient, you should stop being depressed, why do you do this?
Actually this is not understood.
The key to treating patients is acceptance and love, she said.
Photo courtesy of Shanghai Mental Health Center, Zhao Min, Director of Shanghai Mental Health Center
Doctors need to "squat" down to see the problem from the perspective of the patient
In Chinese medical circles, there is a saying of "North Union, South Xiangya", referring to Peking Union Medical College and Xiangya Medical College of Central South University respectively.
In 1986, Zhao Min entered the door of Hunan Medical University (now the Xiangya Medical College of Central South University). After graduating from the undergraduate course in 1991, he stayed at the school and worked as a psychiatrist for several years.
In 1994, she was admitted to the school's postgraduate (direct doctorate) and became the only female disciple of her mentor, Yang Desen, and began psychiatric research.
What she didn't expect was that in her second year as a teacher, she was "sent" to a labor camp (referred to as: labor camp).
"A woman went to a labor camp and faced one or two thousand male drug addicts. Seeing their pain in the process of detoxification made me very uncomfortable," she said.
So she told her tutor that she didn't seem to be suitable for this job.
Her supervisor's remarks have left a deep impression on her to this day: "When doing psychiatric research, you must do what is most lacking. If you don't do research that society needs, what's the point of doing research?"
This "persuasion" persuaded Zhao Min. She insisted on staying in the labor camp for 3 years. After graduating with a doctorate in 1999, she came to Shanghai and devoted herself to clinical and basic research on drug addiction, creating the first law in Shanghai. Voluntary drug addiction hotline and Shanghai's first drug rehabilitation website.
Over the years, Zhao Min has seen many addicts.
The cure rate for addiction treatment is 60% to 70%, she said.
After some patients recover, they can also become the main force of drug rehabilitation volunteers.
Zhao Min knows such a patient. Her name is Ye Xiong. She has been a drug addict for 10 years and has been in and out of drug rehabilitation centers more than 10 times.
At that time, Shanghai was exploring a new model of addiction treatment, and Zhao Min suggested that Ye Xiong should be a volunteer for drug rehabilitation. "She expressed that she wanted to quit drugs, but she couldn't. I told her, 'Let's try and work hard together. .'"
Zhao Min believes that self-help groups are very important, "When we go to help these patients, the patients often feel that you don't understand me and that you can't help me. I told Ye Xiong that you, the recovered ones, actually have the most advantages. Would you like to? Willing to do this?"
Ye Xiong said she was willing, so she joined the volunteer team of drug rehabilitation social workers and communicated with patients through the hotline.
In the process of helping others, Ye Xiong found motivation.
"With her help, a lot of people kept (detoxing) longer and longer. She did so and became more and more fulfilled, becoming our professional drug rehabilitation worker." Zhao Min said.
In Zhao Min's view, it is difficult for people who have not been exposed to drugs and have not deeply experienced the pain involved to do it so deeply. "She just helps others day and night, and she has also led to the formation of volunteer groups for drug rehabilitation. ."
Ye Xiong often thanked Zhao Min for his "belief" in the past.
Zhao Min's research projects will also turn to Ye Xiong, "For some projects, we can't find recovered people, but she can find them." (End)