Psychological Path – Vision Youth invited two psychiatrists to talk about adolescents’ mental health issues

Dr. Fung is giving a talk on teenagers' mental health

Mr. Eric Li with Dr. Fung and Dr. Wang

The new school year is approaching, Vision Youth specially invited two psychiatrists from North York General Hospital to hold a seminar for parents regarding how to handle teenagers’ psychological well-being.

Dr. Fung, a Chinese Canadian doctor specialising in neuropsychology as well as sleeping therapy, places an emphasis on Chinese Canadian teenagers’ mental health problems. As the seminar just began, Dr. Fung prepared a set of information letting the parents got know more about teenagers’ mental health problems and issues. As a matter of fact, Dr. Fung raised an example that committing suicide has become the second major reason (just below traffic accidents) causing death for young adolescents. Besides, he mentioned that poor quality of sleep would also lead to the downgrading of teenagers’ mental health. According to a scientific survey, the optimal number of hours for sleeping is 9 hours for teenagers. People who are having a number below or above 9 hours will be regarded as having sleep disorder. For instance, sleeping problems include insomnia, night terror, sleepwalking, etc. For teenagers who are at the prime stage of studying, poor quality of sleep might lead to downgrading of learning effectiveness and efficiency.

Dr. Wang, an ex-consultant doctor of Ontario Ministry of Education, gave a talk on teenagers’ anxiety disorders. Through case studies, Dr. Wang elaborated on the types of anxiety disorders, the causes and the solutions to anxiety disorders. She mentioned that some of the Chinese Canadian teenagers were having social anxiety disorder and such a disorder imposed an adverse impact on the teenagers themselves. By then, she encouraged parents to handle the situation with patience and care.

No matter for sleep disorders or anxiety disorders, the situation can be mitigated through doing physical exercises. Vision Youth at last encourages parents to let their children expose more to the outdoor environment and participate more in social activities. Having a positive attitude while doing things is the most important thing amongst all.