Ease teens' mental stress, city urged

A political adviser in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, has called for the city to establish a rapid, coordinated response mechanism to address psychological crises among primary and secondary school students.

Zheng Ziyin, a member of the Guangzhou Municipal Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, proposed integrating the city's public security, health and education departments to create an integrated system capable of speedily responding to mental health emergencies involving teenagers and adolescents.

He said the mechanism would help translate existing regulations on adolescent mental health into timely, operational procedures during critical moments.

"The mental health of adolescents is crucial to family happiness and social stability," Zheng said during the city's annual CPPCC session, which concluded on Tuesday.

Zheng said after more than two decades of exploration, relevant departments in the southern metropolis have introduced regulations and laid the groundwork for multidepartmental collaboration. Despite these efforts, significant gaps remain in the city's response to adolescent psychological crises, Zheng added.

He said the 110 emergency call center does not have a dedicated hotline for such cases, and operators lack specialized training to coordinate in real time with mental health professionals. "This can delay intervention and risk missing the golden window for rescue," he said.

To address these shortcomings, Zheng proposed establishing an integrated emergency response system, including a dedicated hotline for adolescent psychological crises and a three-way call mechanism linking police, mental health professionals and the emergency center simultaneously. The system would enable immediate online intervention to stabilize situations while offline rescue efforts are mobilized.

Zheng also said information on high-risk students is scattered across multiple departments, and the lack of a secure information-sharing platform makes it difficult for public security and other agencies to provide early attention and intervention. "This results in an inability to achieve early detection and prevention of risks," he said.

Drawing on practices from other cities, Zheng said the proposed mechanism would turn existing mental health regulations into practical and efficient procedures, ensuring critical support reaches adolescents when it is most needed.

Xiong Bingqi, director of the 21st Century Education Research Institute, said adolescent mental health deserves close attention as young people are facing increasingly severe psychological problems.

About 2 percent of primary and high school students nationwide have suffered from depression, Xiong said, with some forced to suspend their education or withdraw from schools as a result.

He said the proposed tripartite coordinated response mechanism could help counsel, comfort and manage students with serious mental health problems when they seek help. However, he added that it cannot address the root causes of students' psychological distress or meet the growing demand for mental health services.

Xiong urged education authorities and schools to reduce students' academic burden by strengthening oversight of homework, examinations and graduation requirements, while expanding mental health education and encouraging more physical activity.

zhengcaiixiong@chinadaily.com.cn