The psychological costs of being forced to become someone you’re not, parents not knowing their children and too many children with over-programmed lives.

While this article is about students in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), the problems it addresses are not limited to that city.  This crisis is unfolding in a country in which psychology as a science and a profession is undervalued.  In addition, as they article mentions, counselors are few in number and underpaid.  Follow this link to read the article in its entirety.  (The original Vietnamese version is entitled Học sinh mắc bệnh tâm thần gia tăng.)

Here’s a related article entitled Generation Depressed from September 2013.

MAA

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A pediatric psychologist has warned that study-related neuroses have reached crisis levels among Ho Chi Minh City’s students, a problem busy parents and underpaid student counselors have failed to grasp.

Dr. Lam Hieu Minh, deputy head of the pediatrics department at Ho Chi Minh City Mental Health Hospital says his department is no longer just busy during exam season.

These days, it receives an average of 600-700 new patients a week. If the trend continues, Minh warned, the hospital will be overrun in five years.

Minh said the prime reason for mental problems among students is pressure exerted by teachers and family members.

The victims are pushed by their parents to bring home high scores, follow set study and career paths or suffer undue criticism from teachers for minor mistakes.