VietNamNet Bridge - Doctors have rung the alarm bell over the increasingly high number of students who suffer depression. Especially, the number of hospitalized cases reported increases in exam seasons.

The pressure of passing exams burdening students

Nguyen Thi Huong Xuan, Head of Child Psychiatry Department of the Central Mental Hospital No 1, said that in the months just before and after the university entrance exams, the hospital receives many students, who have to be hospitalized due to the hard pressure from the exams. Especially female students, who are more mentally and physically sensitive than male students, account for a bigger proportion in the cases.

“I feel heartbroken when encountering such cases. The student patients remain too young and innocent. For them, the path of life is just beginning. However, they have gotten a shock just because of the ignorance of adults,” Xuan said.

Xuan said that she once met a patient named “L”, who came from Thuong Tin district in Hanoi. L was beautiful and nice. She was hospitalized in a state of panic: she laughed and talked, cried and babbled.

At that time, L was preparing for the high school final exam. L’s parents said that they put a high hope on L and wanted L to pass the exams to a reputable university. Therefore, L has been preparing intensively for the exams since she began going to high school.

Thuong Tin district, where L and her parents lived, was far from the city’s center. However, L still could go to the inner city every day to sit private tutoring classes. One day, L couldn’t sleep, could not eat and fell into the state of panic. The situation became so serious that L gradually lost awareness about what happened around her.

“I prescribed a sedative for her. However, the most important thing that needed to be done was to encourage her,” Xuan said. “Doctors had to “make a revolution” to help change the thoughts of every member of her family, so that the parents did not put too hard pressure on their daughter any more”.

L came out of hospital after one month of treatment. Later, L left Hanoi for Russia, where she has been living so far. L’s parents have informed Xuan that L got married and got children, and she never thinks of trying to study at universities any more.

“I think that there are many ways for people to choose to live well and have good jobs, while they do not imperatively study at the university level,” Xuan said.

University education not the only way to follow

Local newspapers these days recall several cases where students committed suicide just because they feared they would not pass the university entrance exams.

Cao Thi Xuan T in the Phu Nhuan district in HCM City took 10 sleeping tablets to try to kill herself after she did not do well at the university entrance exams, and she felt ashamed because the parents nagged at her all day long.

T luckily escaped death, but she still had to bear treatment at the mental hospital because she fell into the state of losing consciousness and panic, which might lead to the attempts to commit suicide once again.

“H” in Nam Dinh City also committed suicide after he failed the university entrance exams.

Doctor of Sociology Trinh Hoa Binh, said he knows a lot of cases where students suffered depression due to the hard pressure put on them by their parents. Many students got seriously sick because they did not get satisfactory exam results. Other students left home to experience a “street life”, because they failed the exams. Many committed suicide because they did not want to face parents every day.

“Parents should understand that studying at universities is not the only way to follow,” he said.

C.V