Seoul City Supported Mental Health Counseling for 6,540 Youths Last Year

The First Scientific Diagnosis-Based Approach by a Local Government Nationwide

[Asia Economy Reporter Kiho Sung] The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced on the 1st that it successfully completed a mental health support project last year, providing professional psychological counseling and other services to 6,540 young people experiencing psychological difficulties after COVID-19.

This represents a 3.4-fold increase compared to 1,911 people in 2021, and the project was not only expanded in scale but also qualitatively advanced in terms of project implementation systems and programs.

One of the key features of last year’s project was that, for the first time nationwide, it was conducted as a comprehensive mental health recovery support service providing customized counseling services by type, offering high-quality psychological counseling and online mental stability programs simultaneously.

Additionally, professional clinical psychological assessments were introduced to classify participants into types (general group, semi-crisis group, high-crisis group), and an average of 5.6 counseling sessions were provided according to their psychological condition. When necessary, specific follow-up prescriptions such as referrals to specialized medical institutions were also offered. Furthermore, 1,345 individuals in the high-crisis group were identified early and received intensive counseling, with 479 of them being connected to mental health specialized institutions for proactive intervention.

During the implementation of the youth mental health support project, Seoul selected 1,520 participating youths (all 1,089 participants in the 4th round and 431 respondents from the 1st to 3rd rounds) to evaluate overall project outcomes such as mental health status, satisfaction, and effectiveness, and to derive improvement measures ahead of the 4th counseling project.

In particular, Seoul introduced a measurement system to scientifically and objectively verify the effectiveness of mental health recovery, the first among local governments nationwide. For the 4th round participants (1,089 people), diagnostic tests based on psychiatric evaluation scales were conducted before and after program participation, confirming effects such as increased positive emotions and decreased negative emotions.

According to the measurement results, self-esteem, which evaluates self-worth, increased significantly from 60.9 points to 67.3 points; positive mental resilience rose from 57.1 points to 62.1 points; and life satisfaction improved from 51.0 points to 61.0 points. Meanwhile, negative emotions decreased, with depression scores dropping from 54.6 points to 45.9 points, anxiety from 55.3 points to 45.4 points, and stress from 65.3 points to 59.0 points. Additionally, an analysis of the reduction in difficulties by concern type (career path, aptitude/employment, relationship issues, etc.) showed overall significant decreases.

Seoul plans to comprehensively review the opinions of participating youths and counselors, reflect them in this year’s project plan, and supplement operational content to provide counseling services starting in April. Moreover, given the high interest among youths in mental health and the confirmed effectiveness of last year’s project, Seoul will expand the support target to 10,000 people this year and prioritize integrated management to ensure isolated and reclusive youths receive mental health support first.

Furthermore, Seoul will plan and provide prescription programs beyond simple counseling, and establish a ‘Mental Health Vision Center’ in April to comprehensively manage and support counseling matching, participant follow-up, youth policy linkage, and annual project evaluation.

Seoul stated that the diagnostic system establishment and performance evaluation system based on the scientific foundation of this mental health support project will serve as the core to meticulously develop a comprehensive support plan encompassing isolated and reclusive youths, which will be separately announced in March.

Kim Cheol-hee, Head of the Seoul Future Youth Planning Group, said, “As social interest in isolated and reclusive youths has recently increased and the need for systematic management of mental health support has grown, we will further advance the ‘Youth Mental Health Support Project’ that achieved great results last year and implement it starting in April.” He added, “In particular, we will not only increase the number of supported youths but also provide various psychological prescription programs that can enhance positive emotions among youths, actively supporting those in blind spots.”