One of my friends that shared her struggles with anxiety said she continuously notices how mental health issues impact other students on our campus. She is concerned that students devote an unhealthy amount of time to studying. While work is a good thing, self-care and spending time with others is important too. Thankfully, this friend of mine is not the only one who notices this or hopes for mental wellness among Chinese students. Two of my other friends said they have learned how to balance their work and personal life.
Before I arrived in China, I received an email that my university here in China was hosting an event on mental wellness. While I would miss the event because I was not in China at the time, I was pleasantly surprised to receive this email. Already, the fact that my university would have a mental wellness event disproved my misconceptions that there was not much mental health awareness in China.
Once I arrived in China, I discovered more ways that mental wellness is promoted. At the orientation for exchange students, we were informed that there are free counseling services offered to students. This is also a service offered at my university in America. Furthermore, representatives from what the university calls "Whole Person Education" spoke at our orientation to emphasize caring for the whole individual, which includes mental wellness. One way the Whole Person Education program promotes their ideals is through encouraging students to sign up for classes that involve the arts, culture and physical activities.
