School of Mechanical Engineering and Electronic Information Holds the 2023 Spring Mental Health Education Lecture for Graduate Students

On the morning of April 6, the 2023 Spring Mental Health Education Lecture on “Graduate Students’ Stress Management” was held in Room 301 of No. 2 Teaching Building. Associate Professor Zhou Chunyan, head of the Department of Psychology and director of the Institute of Development and Educational Psychology, was invited as the keynote speaker to give the lecture online and offline for all graduate students of this school. The lecture was presided over by counselor Luo Caiwei.

Associate Professor Zhou Chunyan started her lecture with the onsite test of “Are you under a lot of stress right now?”, and had real-time interaction with the students through bullet screen. During the onsite test, the students completed a stress self-assessment scale to understand their current stress type and sources of stress. Then Zhou Chunyan elaborated on the mental health problems of graduate students in three parts: the overall mental health status of graduate students, the mechanism of stress and its impact, and the positive responses to stress.

In the lecture, Zhou Chunyan analyzed the data and found that the anxiety level of graduate students currently exceeds that of the general population, most graduate students focus on their professional development prospects, and the heavy academic pressure, employment pressure, and interpersonal pressure are all sources of stress for graduate students. According to the score ranges of the stress scale for onsite test, students could understand their stress levels and their mental health status.

Zhou Chunyan emphasized that in situations such as long-term depression and anxiety or major setbacks, one should take the initiative to seek external help and social support, or take the initiative to consult with the psychological counseling center of the university. When stress hits, it may have a negative impact on both the mind and the body. We can relax our bodies and reduce physical stress through active exercise, reasonably vent negative emotions, get effective ways to regulate stress or increase social support, and confide in others.

Finally, Zhou Chunyan expressed her hope that through this lecture, students would pay attention to their emotions and face up to mental health problems in their future study and life, and start from the “heart” to maintain the “green code” of our mind.