Experts from the Mental Health Association in Taiwan and other groups yesterday stressed the importance of maintaining mental health amid the spread of COVID-19, saying that there is “no health without mental health.”
“Taiwanese have been very anxious lately and many people are even scared,” as the virus is discussed on a daily basis, National Taiwan University College of Public Health dean Chan Chang-chuan (詹長權) said.
With the resumption of classes, attention needs to be paid to the mental health of students, parents and teachers, said Taiwan Happiness Village Emotion Education Association president and founder Yang Li-jung (楊俐容), a board member of the mental health association.
Schools are “the most important gathering places” within a community, she said, adding: “When schools are calm, I think the psychological panic in a community also falls drastically.”
Many teachers feel pressure and are “worried about parents’ distrust and excessive interference,” Yang said.
Non-governmental organizations should work together to boost mental health on campuses and in communities, she said.
Chen Su-may (陳書梅), an adjunct professor at the university’s library and information science department and a mental health association board member, suggested bibliotherapy to help keep calm.
Bibliotherapy, or identifying with a character in a book and learning from the way they resolve conflict, or coming up with better methods, is something “we experience and do every day,” she said.
It can be therapeutic, because reading diverts a person’s focus, but books should be chosen carefully, Chen said.
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