A shortage of child psychiatrists

Although many families are troubled by the feeling of shame for having a child with a mental problem, thousands of others are worried about the difficulty of finding a qualified child psychiatrist.

Statistics from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention indicate that the total number of professional child psychiatrists is no more than 150. But China has millions of children suffering from mental problems, which means that there is only one doctor for tens of thousands of children.

Moreover, the child psychiatrists are not spread evenly across the country. There are six senior child psychiatrists in the Beijing Anding Hospital, for example, while there are none in some provinces or cities. "It takes much more time to treat a child patient than an adult," Dr. Liu of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention said. "As a result, one doctor is able to diagnose only a few patients."

Experts estimate that, based on population size and societal demand, China needs at least 8,000 child psychiatrists, but the outlook is not that optimistic.

For medical college graduates, the road to becoming a child psychiatrist is long. First, they have to qualify as general psychiatrists, who must be familiar with typical adult psychological illnesses and treatments. But, compared with adults, children's problems often are not obvious or typical. Moreover, since children lack strong communication skills, it is hard for doctors to get the necessary information, which further complicates the diagnosis. Therefore, child psychiatrists need a great deal of patience and keen powers of observation.

"It takes at least six years of training and practice before a graduate becomes a qualified and trustworthy child psychiatrist," said Liu.

Schools fill a gap

The psychological health of children is drawing more and more attention from society.

Recently, in some cities such as Beijing, training courses lasting two to three years were launched with the goal of training mental health teachers in primary and middle schools.

The Beijing Education Commission stated that a psychological counseling office should be set up in all primary, middle and vocational schools in two years to provide mental health services to students, parents and teachers.

According to a guideline issued by the commission, each psychological counseling office should have at least one professional or part-time worker who has received comprehensive psychological health training. It also stipulated that the psychological counseling office should be open regularly, at least 10 hours every week.

It is reported that schools will file psychological profiles for students who have special needs or mental problems. The commission suggests using euphemisms for the counseling office, such as "chat room" or "emotion bar."

In addition, the office should be set up in a location far from the classrooms in order to make visitors feel safe and to preserve privacy. Books and periodicals are required to be placed in the office to provide information for students.

As a matter of fact, some schools in Beijing have already set up psychological counseling offices, which have generated positive results. For instance, since 1996, the middle school affiliated with Renmin University of China has provided psychological services to over 3,000 students. Currently, the school has five psychologists, including one with a Ph.D degree and four with master's degrees. They provide various psychological services to students in all grades. The school's counseling office is open regularly and mainly deals with such problems as difficulties in studying, exam anxiety and career planning.

"The number of students suffering from psychological problems is increasing these days, as some psychological problems are not resolved properly at an early age, which leads to more serious problems," said Zang Chaoying, a psychological counselor at Beijing No. 7 Middle School. "The establishment of the counseling office is to prevent such a thing from happening."