When Gong Wen graduated from the psychology department of a Chinese
university more than a decade ago, it was hard for him to find a
job.
"I
had to explain again and again what I do and the difference between
psychology and fortune-telling," Gong told China Youth
Daily.
Few people believed in him at that time.
"Many of my classmates from the psychology department of Beijing Normal
University changed their profession in order to get high salary
jobs," Gong said.
Now Gong, who is head of the educational psychology research
institute of the Beijing University Founder Group Corp., is
surprised to find that psychology has become a popular choice for
Chinese students.
According to Tuesday's China Youth Daily, more than 600
students competed for 80 places in the psychology department of the
Beijing Normal University this year.
Another 400 students applied for the psychology department of the
Peking University,
an increase of 100 for the third consecutive year.
"Psychology is a luxury. People will only pay attention to it after
they get enough food and clothing," said Gong.
Psychologists keep busy these days in China, solving people's
mental problems, giving instructions to students, working in the
human resources department of companies, doing market research and
studying consumer psychology.
They even study the relationship between humans and machines. For
instance, in automobile production, psychologists give advice on
how to design the brake, meters and horn.
Che Hongsheng, a professor of psychology at the Beijing Normal
University, said employment options have widened for psychology
graduates since the end of the 1990s. The human resources
departments of many companies are in need of psychology
graduates.
When people's physical demands are met, they will seek
psychological help. When the economy grows, enterprises need to
increase efficiency and give full play to the role of each employee
with the help of psychology, said Che.
Psychoanalysis was introduced into China at the beginning of the
20th century and its use spread across the country after 1980.
China now has more than 10,000 psychologists working in research
institutions, education, medicine and other fields to serve 16
million people suffering mental disorders, according to an earlier
report of China Daily.
The country has listed psychology as one of six priorities for
funding and is planning to draft a national law to protect people
with mental illness and improve mental health services, according
to the newspaper.
A
World Health Organization report show that about 1.3 billion people
around the world have psychological problems. And psychological
illness has become one of the major health problems plaguing the
Chinese people.
However, only a small number of sufferers in China receive
psychological treatment at present.
Experts warn that the cost for curing psychological illness may far
exceed that for many other ailments.
(Xinhua News Agency February 12, 2003)