What are the contents of the “Five Ones” of mental health?

The "Five Ones" for public mental health that are currently the most widely spread in the country are lightweight action guidelines that the national health system has clearly stated in the promotion of public psychological services in recent years. Specifically, they include formulating a personalized daily psychological adjustment plan, mastering 1-2 emotional relief techniques that can be implemented at any time, proactively calling an official psychological assistance hotline when necessary, participating in at least one psychological science popularization-related activity every quarter, and completing a standardized mental state assessment once a year.

However, if you ask psychology teachers in primary and secondary schools or EAP specialists in companies, you will most likely get different answers. After all, the "Five Ones" are originally an action framework that grassroots psychological workers have learned from practice. They are never rigid and fixed terms, and will be adapted and adjusted according to the needs of the people they serve. When I was working as a psychological service provider at a junior high school in my jurisdiction, the school’s student version of the “Five Ones” was very down-to-earth: take half an hour out of the classroom every day to run, jump and play ball, talk to your parents at least once a week about topics that have nothing to do with study, talk to the psychology teacher as soon as possible if you have unresolved emotional issues, participate in a class psychological team-building activity every semester, and do a comprehensive psychological screening every school year. Last year, there was a boy in the second grade of junior high school who had been holding back for almost two months because of a conflict with a good friend. He didn't want to do anything and lost his grades. But when the class team building was playing the "Emotional Tree Hole" game, he let go and turned around to talk to me. It didn't take long for him to return to his previous lively state. There are also many Internet companies that have customized versions for their employees, replacing "participating in group science popularization activities" with "enjoying free one-on-one psychological counseling services 4 times a year", which is more suitable for office workers who are afraid of trouble and pay attention to privacy.

Of course, there are different voices in the industry. Some experts believe that this kind of "quantification" of mental health requirements can easily cause additional burdens on people. For example, if people with social fears are forced to participate in group psychological activities, they will become restless and more anxious. Therefore, many places now allow enough flexibility when implementing it. For example, if you really don’t want to participate in group activities, you can still watch two short popular science videos from regular mental health institutions at home. The core is to make everyone really use it, rather than just going through the motions to cope with the task.

To be honest, the core reason why this "Five Ones" can be rolled out across the country is that there is no threshold. You don't need to understand any complicated psychological concepts. Just follow these steps to take care of your mental state. After all, mental health is the same as physical health. It is better to spend a little more energy on maintenance than to wait until you have a problem and then see a doctor.