Addressing virus-related mental illnesses

The rise in novel coronavirus cases and the higher transmissibility of the Omicron variant have increased uncertainties, prompting the government to implement stricter prevention and control measures in the country. For example, cities such as Shanghai and Changchun, Jilin province, have been under lockdown for weeks.

新型冠状病毒病例的增加和Omicron变体的更高传播率增加了不确定性，促使政府在该国实施更严格的预防和控制措施。例如，上海和吉林省长春等城市已被封锁数周。

Compared with the early days of the pandemic, people now are more worried about the severe impacts of the rising infections on the economy and how to adapt to the restrictions on their movements.

与大流行初期相比，人们现在更担心不断上升的感染对经济的严重影响，以及如何适应对他们行动的限制。

Studies show that about one-third of the people who stay at home due to the strict restrictions are likely to suffer depression, anxiety, insomnia and/or acute stress reaction, and more than 10 percent of them can't fully recover from these mental conditions even after the situation returns to normal.

研究表明，约三分之一因严格限制而留在家中的人可能患有抑郁症、焦虑、失眠和/或急性应激反应，其中超过10%的人即使在情况恢复正常后也无法从这些心理状况中完全恢复。

Therefore, more attention should be paid to people's mental health.

因此，应该更多地关注人们的心理健康。

Given the increase in local, sporadic cluster infections, people are more anxious about meeting their basic needs than the threat of the virus, which explains why many suffer depression.

考虑到本地、散发性集群感染的增加，人们更担心满足基本需求，而不是病毒的威胁，这解释了为什么许多人患有抑郁症。

Maintaining social distancing and following other COVID-19 protocols for long, which disrupt normal life and blur the work-life boundary, and the uncertainty over their future could leave even the most mentally strong person highly anxious and stressful.

保持社交距离并长期遵循其他2019冠状病毒疾病协议，这会扰乱正常生活，模糊工作与生活的界限，对未来的不确定性甚至会让精神最强大的人感到高度焦虑和压力。

Those who have to stay at home for long struggle to meet the daily necessities and face all sorts of inconvenience, and face lower income or even unemployment, which could lead to anxiety and other mental problems, including insomnia.

那些不得不长期呆在家里的人努力满足日常生活需要，面临各种不便，收入下降甚至失业，这可能导致焦虑和其他精神问题，包括失眠。

Baidu index shows that since March, the search for "psychological counseling" has surged in Shanghai. Over the past 30 days, the popularity of the term has increased 253 percent year-on-year, which shows that a growing number of Shanghai residents are facing psychological problems.

百度指数显示，自3月份以来，上海的“心理咨询”搜索量激增。在过去的30天里，这个词的受欢迎程度同比增长了253%，这表明越来越多的上海居民面临着心理问题。

According to data, since the pandemic outbreak, depression cases have increased by more than 70 million, anxiety patients by about 90 million, and insomnia cases by hundreds of millions. The "psychological battle" against the pandemic is indeed arduous.

根据数据，自大流行爆发以来，抑郁症病例增加了7000多万，焦虑症患者增加了约9000万，失眠病例增加了数亿。抗击疫情的“心理战”确实艰巨。

The Healthy China Initiative, a key national medical project, focuses among other things on people's mental health. Lei Zhenglong, deputy director of the National Health Commission's Bureau of Disease Prevention and Control, said recently that raising public awareness of mental health is one of the best ways of boosting their mental health.

健康中国倡议是一个重要的国家医学项目，其重点是人们的心理健康。国家卫生委员会疾病预防控制局副局长雷正龙最近表示，提高公众的心理健康意识是促进他们心理健康的最佳途径之一。

True, meeting the rising demand for psychological counseling is a challenge. But it is also an opportunity for the industry to improve and expand itself and make more profits by meeting the rising demand.

诚然，满足日益增长的心理咨询需求是一项挑战。但这也为该行业提供了一个改善和扩大自身的机会，并通过满足不断增长的需求获得更多利润。

First, it's necessary to ramp up efforts to raise public awareness of mental health, so they can better cope with the effects of the pandemic by understanding that anxiety, depression and insomnia are normal reactions to the strict pandemic prevention and control measures, and finding ways to overcome them.

首先，有必要加大努力，提高公众对心理健康的认识，以便他们能够更好地应对疫情的影响，了解焦虑、抑郁和失眠是对严格的疫情防控措施的正常反应，并找到克服它们的方法。

Second, there is a need to promote mental self-care techniques and use "cultural tools" to deal with negative thoughts. Meditation and regular exercise, as well as hobbies such as painting, calligraphy, listening to or playing music, and dancing can help divert a person's attention from the pandemic's effects and relieve stress. According to a recent survey, about 27 percent of Shanghai residents have been practicing meditation and those doing so are less anxious and depressed compared with those who don't.

第二，有必要推广心理自我护理技巧，并使用“文化工具”来处理负面想法。冥想和定期锻炼，以及绘画、书法、听音乐或演奏音乐、跳舞等爱好，有助于转移人们对疫情影响的注意力，缓解压力。根据最近的一项调查，大约27%的上海居民一直在练习冥想，与不练习冥想的人相比，练习冥想的人更少焦虑和抑郁。

Third, it's important to activate the psychological support system and use innovative means to interact with other people online. Since the strict prevention and control measures have restricted people's movement and reduced face-to-face communication, people cannot meet much of their psychological and spiritual needs in traditional ways. But with the help of the internet, people can maintain contact with their family and friends and get the much-needed social support, and get some spiritual satisfaction.

第三，重要的是激活心理支持系统，并使用创新手段与其他人在线互动。由于严格的防控措施限制了人们的行动，减少了面对面的交流，人们无法用传统的方式满足他们的心理和精神需求。但在互联网的帮助下，人们可以与家人和朋友保持联系，获得急需的社会支持，并获得一些精神上的满足。

Fourth, there is also a need to reduce the stigma of mental problems, and encourage people to seek professional counseling and treatment, especially because psychological problems have increased by more than 30 percent since the pandemic outbreak. In short, people shouldn't hesitate to seek counseling, especially if their problems don't subside.

第四，还需要减少心理问题的耻辱感，鼓励人们寻求专业咨询和治疗，特别是因为自疫情爆发以来，心理问题增加了30%以上。简而言之，人们应该毫不犹豫地寻求咨询，尤其是在他们的问题没有缓解的情况下。

Fifth, it's also important to stay positive and try to share some happy moments with others. The pandemic has impacted the economy, disrupted people's dreams and careers, and undermined social trust, creating psychological problems for some. As such, people should not excessively focus on pandemic-induced problems, and instead think about winning the battle against the virus.

第五，保持积极的心态并与他人分享快乐的时刻也很重要。疫情影响了经济，打乱了人们的梦想和职业生涯，破坏了社会信任，给一些人带来了心理问题。因此，人们不应该过分关注由大流行引起的问题，而应该考虑战胜病毒。

Sharing happy moments will help rebuild social trust, and boost people's confidence that they will eventually win the fight against the virus and pursue a happy life.

分享快乐时光将有助于重建社会信任，增强人们的信心，相信他们最终会战胜病毒，追求幸福生活。

Zhang Jianxin is a researcher at the Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and head of the Chinese Association of Social Psychology; and Wang Bin is an associate professor of psychology, and Jin Ling is a research associate at Southwest University of Science and Technology.

张建新是中国科学院心理研究所研究员、中国社会心理学协会会长；王斌是心理学副教授，金玲是西南科技大学的副研究员。

The views don't necessarily represent those of China Daily.

这些观点不一定代表《中国日报》的观点。