Individuals, families urged to improve mental health awareness

BEIJING -- Individuals and families have been urged to improve mental health awareness and take scientific measures to manage personal stress, according to experts at a press conference on July 23 on a national campaign for mental health promotion.

The national campaign also called for greater government efforts in communicating knowledge about mental health to the public and forging community-based mental health service networks.

When people feel depressed, frustrated and anxious in their work and life, they can get psychological support by dialing psychological assistance hotlines or seek help from specialized departments of hospitals and mental health service institutions, according to the experts.

China will step up its efforts to enhance people's mental health, as the country aims to improve the rate of treatment of depression by 80 percent by 2030, according to the Healthy China Action (2019-2030) plan made public by Chinese central authorities earlier this month.

China is seeing an increasing number of people with mental disorders and behavior problems, and the public still has limited knowledge of such issues, lacking awareness of how to prevent and deal with them, says the plan.