Photo of President Yoon Seok-yeol’s speech at a press conference to announce the government’s policies on mental health at the former Cheong Wa-dae presidential office on December 5.
SEOUL, Jan. 3 (Yonhap) — The Ministry of Education said Wednesday that it will make mental health testing available in all elementary, middle and high schools starting from the new semester in March, in an effort to detect at-risk students early, amid worsening problems of suicide and loneliness at older ages. adolescence.
The ministry said that the “Easy Mind Test” consists of about 37 questions about the participants’ feelings, anxiety, personal relationships, psychological trauma, or school life. It will be made available online so it can be done anywhere, anytime.
Teachers are supposed to encourage students who appear to be emotionally unstable to take the test. If the results show that students need care, teachers can ask the student or his or her parents to seek counseling or treatment.
The number of teens and people in their 20s who have attempted suicide or harmed themselves has increased by 50% to 70% over the past two years, according to a report issued by the National Medical Center and the National Center for Emergency Medicine on Wednesday.
The number of teenagers who attempted suicide or harmed themselves increased by 68.9% over the past five years, from 95 cases per 100,000 people in 2018, to 160.5 cases last year. As for those in their twenties, their number increased by 49.5% from 127.6 cases per 100,000 people to 190.8 cases in the same period.
Experts point to the disruption of relationships due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the difficulty of many people finding jobs due to the recession as reasons for the significant increase in the number of young people who harm themselves or attempt suicide.
(I finish)
hala3bbas@yna.co.kr
2024-01-03 10:51:29
#Providing #mental #health #testing #schools #students #risk #psychological #crises
