Emphasis on children and adolescents’ mental health and the development of a healthy personality

  ”On March 1, 2014 at about 2:00 a.m., a fight and brawl took place in front of Jinfuxuan Supermarket in Dailang Fuxuan New Village, Longhua New District, Shenzhen, where a 17-year-old boy was stabbed multiple times after clashing with others over a girl on his birthday.”  In this incident, the boy who was killed did not have a direct conflict with the suspect, but was unfortunately involved in a vicious incident. Some clues from the incident speculate that the girl’s boyfriend was jealous and impulsive and led his friends to fight, triggering the murder. This boyfriend and his partner may have paranoid personality or impulsive personality tendencies, leading to irrational handling of problems and extremely prone to conflicts and vicious incidents.  In the Chinese Classification and Diagnostic Criteria for Mental Disorders (CCMD-3), one category of disorder is personality disorder, which mainly refers to personality traits that deviate significantly from normal, causing the patient to develop a consistent pattern of abnormal behavior that reflects personal life style and interpersonal relationships. This pattern significantly deviates from the specific cultural background and general cognitive style (especially in the treatment of others), significantly affecting their social and occupational functioning and causing maladjustment to the social environment, for which the patient feels distressed.  Personality disorders are mainly classified as paranoid personality disorder, schizoid personality disorder, antisocial personality disorder, impulsive personality disorder, performance (hysterical) personality disorder, obsessive-compulsive personality disorder, anxiety personality disorder, dependent personality disorder, passive-aggressive personality disorder, depressive personality disorder, and narcissistic personality disorder.  Among them, paranoid personality disorder is characterized by suspicion and paranoia and is more prevalent in men. They are overly sensitive to frustration and rejection; intolerant of insults and injuries, and long-standing grudges; paranoid, i.e., misinterpreting unintentional or good behavior of others as hostile or contemptuous; combative, and extremely defensive of personal rights; prone to pathological jealousy, overly suspicious of the loyalty of lovers, spouses, or sexual partners, but not to the extent of delusions; overly conceited and self-neutral, and refusing to rest until the goal is achieved; overly vigilant and hostility.  In contrast, impulsive personality disorder is characterized by emotional outbursts with marked behavioral impulsivity and is more common in males. Such individuals are prone to arguments and conflicts with others, especially when impulses are blocked or criticized; have a sudden tendency to anger and violence and cannot control impulsive behavior; poor planning and foresight for food; inability to adhere to any behavior without immediate reward; unstable and erratic state of mind; disturbed and unstable self-image, purpose, and preferences; prone to interpersonal tension or instability; and frequent suicidal, self-injurious behavior.  Personality disorders are not diagnosed until after the age of 18 and are very difficult to treat after diagnosis, usually beginning in childhood or adolescence and continuing to develop over time into adulthood or throughout life. Not many in society can actually diagnose personality disorders, but more often there are deviations from certain personality traits that can also have negative consequences for themselves, their families and society. Personality is the sum of everyone’s behavior, psychological and other characteristics, including temperament, ability, interests, hobbies, habits, character, self-concept and other psychological characteristics, the formation of personality is the result of the interaction of innate genetic factors and acquired environmental and educational factors. Therefore, to cultivate a healthy personality, so that the child has a better professional quality and better social adaptability as an adult, it is very important to start mental health education from an early age. As the saying goes, 3 years old see old, it is because a person’s psychological characteristics are gradually formed, with the growth of age, gradually tends to stabilize, it is also more and more difficult to change.  Before the age of 18, we can make the psychological characteristics significantly deviated into personality abnormalities, the main factors that cause personality abnormalities are: ① Genetic factors. In families with personality abnormalities, there are often the same types of personality traits, and the incidence is positively correlated with the proximity of relatives. ②Disease factors and brain development factors. Physical diseases that affect the normal development of brain function during childbirth, infancy and childhood can lead to immature brain development, resulting in abnormalities. (iii) Family environmental factors. Stressful events in childhood, bereavement, parental divorce, abuse and over-pampering have a huge impact on child development. ④Educational factors. Various educational methods including kindergarten education, school education, media communication, books, movies and internet can also have an impact on personality abnormalities. ⑤ Social factors. Socio-economic, social systems and policies, mainstream thinking, and social mores are also related to personality formation, such as the loss of safe sibling competition due to the one-child policy and overprotection in family parenting due to fear of losing the only one. The lack of fatherly love due to the “economy-centered” and “male-dominated, female-dominated” ideology.  A healthy personality is one that has a unique, stable, integrated, positive behavior and tendencies toward people, things, and oneself, and is able to detect psychological changes in others and oneself in a timely manner; and to engage in adaptive behavior that is consistent with the external environment. Specifically, the ability to perceive in time for himself and others, whether reality is pleasant for him or not, and to face reality. Acts sensibly, is very steady, and listens appropriately to sound advice. Has the ability to love others, also has empathy, can appreciate the feelings of others, and can be tolerant and understanding of others who hold different opinions to get along. Can rely on others appropriately and is willing to accept help and love from others. Have self-control over their emotions, especially bad emotions such as anger, and have a sense of proportion and do not lose their reason. Pursue progress, good at learning, and have long-term plans. Enjoys his or her work and does not change his or her mind. You are restful and energetic.  To cultivate a healthy personality and promote “optimal pregnancy, optimal birth and optimal nutrition”. In the family, establish a good parent-child relationship, cultivate independence and tolerance from an early age, help them to treat themselves correctly, and gradually increase their behavior and habits to adapt to the environment. Parents have proper knowledge of mental health and pass it on to their children, and strengthen legal education and learning about science to prevent accidents. It is important to observe carefully and pay attention to the various behavioral changes and manifestations of the child, and to promptly ask psychiatrists and psychologists to examine any problems, diagnose them early, and formulate timely measures to prevent the situation from deteriorating. We call on the whole society to work together and individuals to act with a sense of social responsibility to prevent their own behavior from bringing adverse effects on children and adolescents.