SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- A U.S. non-profit based in San Francisco that advocates mental health said Thursday that it is forging partnership with government agencies, medical specialists and teachers in addressing depression which haunt many students.
Tide Initiative, a California non-profit organization that provides mental health education to students around the world, said it is seeking an education over intervention approach, such as one-on-one counseling, wellness initiatives and online information as a means of non-biological defense in addressing depression, one of the most unconquerable mental health problems in current world.
"About 300 million people around the world are currently suffering from depression. Last year, depression took away one of my best friends," said Founder of Tide Initiative, Lance Ying.
Founded in 2017, the student-led non-profit in northern California is collaborating with psychologists from Stanford Psychology Department to create a Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) curriculum, which aimed to teach students how to control their emotions, regulate anxiety and stress, increase self-awareness, and build relationships through intra-personal skills.
By leveraging the integration of education and technology, Tide Initiative wants to promote social and psychological well-being of students worldwide. It launched multiple mental health workshops for students in various locations, from local schools in San Francisco to underdeveloped regions of western China between May and September this year.
It provided the students with innovative curricula that encourage them to engage in child-friendly activities like drama and art therapy, as well as free self-expression through creative arts.
"Prevention is the best medicine -- end-of-pipe solutions are not -- and that's why we're here, providing mental health education instead of intervention," said Yiting Yin, COO of Tide Initiative.
Yin added that education is important for those in developing countries, where mental health resources, and even interventions themselves, are scarce.
Tide Initiative said its cooperation with more than 30 organizations have helped over 2,000 students, and its founder Ying has a more ambitious goal of getting mental health education accessible to at least 1 million teenagers around the globe by 2021.
