My Hope
I was born and bred in Beijing, the capital of China, a traditional and conservative environment. In China, mental health is less valued, and there is a lack of mental health knowledge which perpetuates deep cultural stigma, and because of this stigma and lack of resources, people are not getting the help they need. According to the Disease Control and Prevention's Mental Health Center of China, over 100 million people in China have a mental health disorder, and 16 million have a severe mental health disorder. How many of the 100 million people with mental health disorders receive services is unclear. What is clear is that I am one of the people who has struggled with a mental health disorder.
When I started college in Beijing, I experienced increased anxiety and depression due to the pressures of entrance exams and concern for my future. I also realized at this time that I am a sensitive person who is a people pleaser and an empath. An empath is a person highly tuned into the feelings and emotions of those around them. Empaths pick up on the feelings of others on a deep emotional level. Being an empath gives me good insight, but at the same time, it can be exhausting because I take on the emotions of others. I became depressed, and because I did not know how to cope, I became anxious about my inaction and felt stuck. I knew something was wrong with my mental state, so I sought help from the university’s counseling center. I did not get the help that I needed. Instead, I received strange looks, and they made me repeat my thoughts and behaviors. I felt that my struggles with anxiety and depression could be resolved with therapy. The counseling center dismissed me and suggested I go to the hospital to meet with a Psychiatrist for medication. Therapy was not given as a treatment option. I felt so powerless at the time. I did not know anyone who went to therapy while growing up or in college, as it was never discussed.
After self-healing, medication, and time, I felt like myself again. Looking back, I learned that when darkness falls, the dawn is coming, and so is the sun. I learned to embrace who I am and know that my dark feelings will not last forever. I remember my guidance counselor in high school said,
“If you can live with your emotions and accept yourself for who you are, then you can focus on learning skills and strategies to cope with daily life.”
Research shows that sharing personal stories is one of the most significant ways to reduce the stigma surrounding mental health issues. Thus, I decided to support others who were struggling and share my journey. I posted some information on my social media page, saying I was a “safe place” where you could share their concerns and feelings about school, dating, family, etc. Soon many people were reaching out to me to share their struggles.
This experience taught me that I wanted to become a social worker. My hope is to help others unblock their emotions and offer support through talk therapy and communication. I want to bring as much warmth as possible to those who need help so that they can find hope. I want to use my own practice to make up for the lack of resources in China so that those as helpless as I was can understand there are ways to get the proper guidance and help. I want to help people feel like they are not alone. I have learned the power of growing from one's own life experiences. I have become more independent, stronger, and more confident. All experiences have meaning, and I hope that my experiences can make my life and the lives of others more meaningful.
Therapy and counseling reflect the humanitarian ideal I constantly keep in my heart and is the professional route I am resolved to follow. I deeply know that mental health education and awareness in China is less developed than in the United States, so I came aboard to study further, hoping to learn theory and get my license to practice social work. My goal is to assist teenagers in successfully navigating adolescence, figuring out difficulties, establishing proper mental health disorder diagnoses, and obtaining the right therapy when they experience concerns. I hope my future therapy practice will support teens to grow into healthy human beings capable of realizing their full potential and contributing to society. Long term, I'll do all in my power to influence policy changes in China and spearhead the reform of mental health care.
QY is a first-year graduate student at the University of Chicago, Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice.