How to improve happiness? Psychologists answer psychological questions for different groups of people

In recent years, the number of people with psychological behavioral problems and mental disorders in my country has gradually increased, and the problem of people's mental health has become increasingly prominent. According to data from 2019, the prevalence of depression in my country reached 2.1%, and the prevalence of anxiety disorders reached 4.98%. How to judge whether you are depressed or anxious? How can you relieve these negative emotions? In this regard, Fan Fumin, director of the Positive Psychology Research Center of the School of Social Sciences of Tsinghua University, and Peng Kaiping, director of the Department of Psychology of Tsinghua University, conducted professional popular science explanations to the public from the perspective of positive psychology for groups affected by the epidemic, young people, the elderly, and working people.

How to “cure” the depression caused by the epidemic?

During the epidemic, how to resolve psychological anxiety and face the impact of normalized epidemic prevention and control in a positive state? Peng Kaiping explained to people from two aspects how to adjust the mentality caused by the "depression" of the epidemic.

The first aspect is scientific methods and scientific rescue. "For example, the Delta variant that appeared some time ago was actually exaggerated by society as too terrifying. Although Delta is highly contagious, its transmission chain has not changed and it is still preventable and controllable. There is enough scientific knowledge about this." Peng Kaiping suggested that people should keep abreast of scientific knowledge related to the epidemic and have enough confidence in the country's ability to respond to the epidemic.

The second aspect is to maintain a positive attitude. Peng Kaiping said that the study found that the incidence of post-traumatic stress disorder caused by the spread of the new crown pneumonia epidemic is not as high as imagined. On the contrary, most people have a positive attitude after trauma. People's emphasis on their own health and self-protection, their confidence in the party and the nation, and their attention to interpersonal relationships in the family are all manifestations of post-traumatic growth. A positive attitude is a positive result brought about by this epidemic, and it is also something that people need to continue to maintain.

"Group counseling" helps children's mental health

According to the "China National Mental Health Development Report (2019-2020)", the detection rate of depression among adolescents was 24.6% in 2020. Among them, the detection rate of mild depression was 17.2% and that of severe depression was 7.4%, which has attracted widespread attention from the society.

How to improve the increasingly serious psychological problems of teenagers? Fan Fumin suggested that the first thing is to promote positive education in schools to help teenagers improve and cultivate their character strengths and discover the strengths of themselves and others. At the same time, in daily teaching, in addition to offering special psychology classes, psychological viewpoints can also be infiltrated into other cultural courses. Through these practices, not only should children have good academic performance, but they should also be taught how to become a healthy and responsible person who can rise in adversity.

In addition, family education is also an indispensable key link. As a parent, how can you better provide a healthy environment for your child's growth? In addition to cultivating learning habits, parents' emotions are also very important. Many times, the reason for the conflict between parents and children is the parents' own irritability. In this state, their words can easily hurt the children. Therefore, parents must first be aware of and regulate their emotions, and communicate with their children in a relatively calm state. At the same time, try to understand the child's behavior, learn the skills and methods of communicating with the child, and understand the psychological needs and possible reasons behind the behavior.

"The 'group counseling' method in positive psychology is one of the important ways to help young people grow up healthily. Setting goals in the group, such as promoting good interpersonal communication among middle school students, allowing them to share happy experiences in interpersonal communication and improve their communication skills." Fan Fuming emphasized that, unlike lectures, group counseling allows children to explore themselves through discussions.

Group counseling not only improves the self-education ability of young people, but also overcomes the networking of society. Fan Fumin said that the Internet has made more children close themselves off, which has seriously affected the social development of young people. Sociality is mainly reflected in getting along with others and establishing good relationships, which is also the main source of people's happiness. The positive relationships emphasized in positive psychology are crucial to a person's healthy growth. Group counseling is the best way to improve sociality. By communicating with a group of people, children can learn how to listen and how to respond. Therefore, schools can also hold class meetings in the form of group counseling and tailor counseling plans for students to help them improve their self-confidence, improve their interpersonal relationships, and better adapt to school life.

The Eightfold Path to Reduce Anxiety in the Workplace

Anxiety is a normal reaction to human stress and a normal emotional fluctuation that everyone experiences to a greater or lesser extent. For professionals, psychological problems may arise due to stress, anxiety and other reasons. However, many people do not realize that they have psychological illnesses. How can they make the right self-judgment? In this regard, Peng Kaiping proposed three criteria for judgment.

He said that the first criterion is being in a state of tension for seven consecutive days; the second criterion is affecting normal life and work, such as having difficulty eating and sleeping normally; the third criterion is not having thoughts of self-harm, suicide, or harming or attacking others.

"These three criteria can be summarized as: the duration cannot be too long, the severity cannot be too great, and there cannot be any tendency to harm." Peng Kaiping introduced that professionals in the workplace can deal with negative emotions such as anxiety, anger, and fear through eight simple and easy methods such as deep breathing, physical contact, smelling, meditation, and communication.

In recent years, people have paid more attention to their own mental state, and the development of psychological counseling institutions in society has also been rapid. Peng Kaiping believes that, in fact, people do not need to see a psychologist all the time. With the comfort and inspiration of positive psychology, many problems can actually be solved by themselves. He suggested that people should learn more about positive psychology. Through self-study and self-adjustment, they can help people solve some psychological problems. For more serious psychological problems, it is necessary to consult a psychologist and actively seek treatment.

"Active aging" requires joint efforts from the whole society

In recent years, fraud crimes targeting the elderly have become common, and the various fraud "routines" have made many elderly people defenseless. Why are the elderly group deceived again and again? Fan Fumin explained that some elderly people who have just retired find it difficult to adapt to the sudden idle state. The elderly's sense of self-worth and existence are reduced, and they are prone to "retirement syndrome". They are eager to communicate, to be cared for and respected. However, children who are busy with work often lack time to take care of the elderly, and their understanding of the needs of the elderly and communication skills are also insufficient. At this time, some businessmen take the initiative to contact the elderly through "emotional communication", which is very easy to gain their trust.

How can we reduce the occurrence of such problems? Fan Fumin suggested that this requires the joint efforts of the elderly group themselves and the whole society to promote "active aging". He explained that "active aging" means infiltrating the concept of positive psychology into elderly work. The elderly group has many positive resources, and we should encourage the elderly to give full play to their talents and pursue a better life, while making the elderly an important asset of society.

From the perspective of the elderly themselves, they need to adjust themselves psychologically, be fully prepared for such a major transition in life as retirement, and slowly learn a new way of life. At the same time, the elderly can use their rich experience and resources to find a new stage to continue to play a role in their experience and find a sense of value. They can also learn some things that they did not have time to learn before.

At the same time, society should also provide meaningful help and guidance for the elderly. For example, the media can carry out publicity, and the community can carry out activities, such as organizing group counseling and psychological education for retired people in the community, to guide the elderly to do some valuable work. Social professionals should pay more attention to the needs of the elderly and provide them with practical help.

(Yang Di's intern Han Xirui)