China News Service, Beijing, October 10 (Reporter Zhao Fangyuan) "Never make a diagnosis or treat yourself based on online psychological assessment results, thinking that you have a mental illness," said Lu Lin, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
As a leading scholar in the field of mental health in my country, Academician Lu Lin has long been engaged in research on mental illness and sleep disorders.
As public awareness of mental health increases, various online psychological assessments have become popular and have become a way for many people to self-examine their mental state. "Test your depression index" "Three questions to see through your mental state"... Some people fall into anxiety and insomnia because the test shows "severe depression", while others make adjustments on their own based on the conclusion of "mild anxiety" but delay treatment.
How to judge whether you are mentally healthy? Why are psychiatric hospitals in many places changing their names? What changes have occurred in my country’s mental health service system in recent years? Focusing on these issues, Academician Lu Lin recently accepted an interview with China-Singapore Health.
Psychological self-assessment scales cannot be regarded as the "gold standard"
October 10 is the 35th World Mental Health Day. This year’s national promotion theme is “Accept emotions, have sunshine in the heart”. In recent years, the public's attention to mental health has gradually increased, and various online psychological assessments have become popular.
However, Academician Lu Lin reminded that mental health problems such as anxiety and depression cannot be measured as accurately as measuring body temperature and blood pressure. The results of online psychological assessment are only a reference and cannot be used as a gold standard. The diagnosis of mental illness is a scientific and rigorous process. Even if you go to the hospital and doctors make various assessments and measurements, they are only a reference for diagnosis.
"Human emotions are extremely dynamic and fluctuate greatly due to the influence of environment, work schedule, and events. Assessment results at different times on the same day may be biased. Fragmented online self-assessments lack scientificity and professionalism and cannot be used as a basis for diagnosis and treatment."
How to judge whether you are mentally healthy? Academician Lu Lin gave three criteria: first, being able to study, work, live, and sleep normally; second, being free from pain and feeling uncomfortable; third, not causing pain or distress to others.
If you notice that your mood or state is abnormal, Academician Lu Lin proposed that you can take two steps. The first step is to communicate with trusted relatives, friends, and colleagues and ask them if they think you are in a bad state. The second step is, if you feel particularly painful or people around you think you are in a bad state, seek professional evaluation, such as going to the hospital or finding a professional. Doctors and professionals are highly trained to discern what may be a real problem and what is just a symptom.
At the same time, he reminded that there are also people who think there is no problem but cause great trouble to the people around them and their families. "In some diseases, patients themselves lack insight, which also requires further intervention."
Academician Lu Lin also emphasized that health is not just the absence of illness. "In the past, we emphasized health, and more emphasis was placed on the absence of physical illness, no fever, no pain, and no cold. This is not comprehensive." He said that health should include no physical disease, mental health, and good adaptability to the surrounding social environment.
Mental illness is not equal to "character defect"
For a long time, society has had serious misunderstandings and stigmatization of mental illness. Many people unilaterally believe that suffering from mental illness is a "personality and character problem." This has caused patients and their families to bear a heavy sense of shame and are unwilling to take the initiative to seek medical treatment, which has greatly hindered early intervention and treatment of the disease.
"Mental and psychological diseases are not equal to character defects. Like many physical diseases, they are common and frequent clinical diseases and have nothing to do with personal conduct or personality. Children, teenagers, adults, and the elderly may all have mental and psychological problems." Academician Lu Lin pointed out that taking depression as an example, the lifetime prevalence rate of depression in my country is close to 7%; anxiety disorders and insomnia disorders are also mental and psychological diseases and need to be taken seriously.
This stigma also makes the name "mental hospital" seem particularly heavy. Academician Lu Lin said that he had previously suggested that psychiatric hospitals change their names to weaken the "mental illness" label, reduce public stigma, eliminate social discrimination and misunderstandings about mental illness, and allow patients to put down their psychological burden and seek medical treatment with peace of mind.
Sino-Singapore Health has noticed that since this year, many psychiatric hospitals have completed name changes. For example: Chenzhou Psychiatric Hospital was renamed Chenzhou Sixth People's Hospital; Zhuzhou Psychiatric Hospital was renamed Zhuzhou Brain Hospital; Fangchenggang Psychiatric Hospital was renamed Fangchenggang Fourth People's Hospital.
Mental health service guarantee system is gradually established
Mental health problems have become a global public health challenge. The World Mental Health Report released by the World Health Organization in June 2022 shows that the prevalence of common mental and psychological diseases such as depression and anxiety has increased significantly around the world, and about one in eight people suffers from mental and psychological diseases. At the same time, the problem of uneven global mental health service resources and insufficient supply is very prominent.
"In the past 20 years, the country has paid more and more attention to mental illnesses and other brain diseases, and the mental health system has been gradually improved." Academician Lu Lin said, but in the past, the shortcomings of my country's mental health service system were obvious: many county-level hospitals did not have psychiatrists, nor psychiatric outpatient clinics and wards. When people had problems, they could only go to big cities.
Today, this is changing. Academician Lu Lin introduced that relevant documents proposed that counties with a permanent population of more than 300,000 should have at least one county-level public hospital with psychiatric wards, and counties with less than 300,000 should have at least one county-level public hospital providing psychiatric outpatient services. Mental health has also been included in the construction of a healthy China. In the past, physical examinations and screenings mainly focused on physical health indicators such as blood sugar and infection. Now, in addition to physical examinations, psychological examinations are also required.
Academician Lu Lin mentioned that in 2025, the National Health Commission and other departments launched the "Pediatrics and Mental Health Service Year" action (2025-2027), which requires increasing the construction of psychiatric departments in general hospitals, promoting "physical and mental treatment", and helping to identify mental and psychological problems manifested by physical symptoms such as headaches and gastrointestinal discomfort through mental and psychological liaison consultation. Accessibility to medicines is also increasing, and medical insurance is supporting it. In terms of talent training, more than 40 undergraduate colleges and universities across the country have established departments of mental health. At the same time, the country has also deployed brain science to promote the clinical translation of research on the mechanisms of brain diseases such as mental illnesses.
