More and more young people in China are afraid of real-world communication

This is the content of the analysis of the South China Morning Post.

In its analysis, the South China Morning Post cites a survey of 4,800 university students conducted by China Youth Daily in November 2021. Accordingly, about 80% of respondents believe they have symptoms of social anxiety disorder. About 7% of them reported severe symptoms. These people reported that they were afraid of social situations and activities in large numbers because they were afraid of being embarrassed, humiliated or judged negatively.

Another study published in the scientific journal PLOS One in 2020 found that the prevalence of symptoms fear of society among young Chinese is on the rise. Studies on this condition conducted by US and Canadian scientists show that 32% of 16-29 year olds have symptoms of social anxiety. According to psychologists, the social media abuse and virtual connectivity are the main reasons for the rise of this disease.

Ms. Huang Jing, a psychologist, shared: “It is quite common among teenagers today that they often refuse to leave the house or meet anyone, even at the age of curiosity and discovery.“.

Overuse of social media and virtual connections are the main reasons for the increase in social anxiety. (Photo: The Medium)

Many young people share that they can talk a lot online, but when they meet people in real life, they become shy and don’t know what to say. Another reason is that young people tend to confide in strangers more easily.

There is another reason, said Ji Longmei, a senior psychological consultant at the Mental Health Counseling Center in Shanghai, that many young people were born in the era of China’s one-child policy. Quoc, grew up alone and was overprotected by his parents and grandparents because they were an only child. They have high expectations from their families in the context of fierce educational competition, so most of them spend most of their time at home studying and have very little social communication.

Experts emphasize that not everyone who considers himself to be socially afraid actually has the disease. In many cases, they just use it as an excuse to refuse to attend events. However, the growing popularity of the term “social phobia” is an indication that the public has increased awareness of mental health.

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