Breaking up with her lover, Anh Ngoc immediately took a week off to travel abroad in the hope of “healing her many scratches on her soul”.
A 25-year-old girl in Ha Dong district, Hanoi said she had to leave the city to quickly forget her old love. There’s still a lot of work left, but Ngoc still wears it. “My boss doesn’t give me leave, I’m ready to quit,” she said.
The few times she ended previous relationships, it took Ngoc a whole year to balance her life. Every time she finishes work, she goes to a tarot card reader to ask for advice. At night, I endlessly listen to healing podcasts to help me sleep.
“Only this way will I find life easier,” Ngoc said.
Anh Ngoc on a domestic medical trip in early 2024. Photo: Character provided
Once a week, Van Lam in District 2, Ho Chi Minh City spends one million VND for a healing class using rotating bell therapy. Here, the 26-year-old man soaked his feet in herbal water, ate cakes, and read books while listening to the sound of a bell to stimulate his sense of taste and vision, helping him relax and think less.
According to the instructor, the vibration frequency of the bell will stimulate the subconscious mind, clear the blocked energy source in the body, and bring peace to the mind. This is suitable for a content creation freelancer who has to work 10-14 hours a day and is constantly exposed to negative comments like Lam.
That’s why even though he’s busy with work, he still takes the time to participate in healing courses. On the weekend, Lam and his friends went on a picnic, temporarily disconnecting from the world. The cost for each treatment trip ranges from a few million to several tens of millions of dong.
Healing activities are increasingly popular, especially among young people, reflecting the need for psychological relief, reducing trauma and eliminating negative and insecure thoughts. The United Nations has called 2021 the “Year of Healing” after the negative impacts of the Covid pandemic.
There are no statistics on the number of people participating in healing services, but on the social network TikTok, the hashtags “chualanh” and “healing” are constantly in the top 100 most searched and used keywords. For example, the hastag “chualanh” has more than 240,000 posts with more than 2 billion views, the hashtag “healing” has 11 million posts with nearly 60 billion views. Many healing trends such as meditation, experiential travel, leaving the city to return to the countryside, participating in sports, workshops, listening to podcasts, music, movies, and reading books are responded to by many people.
On Facebook, hundreds of healing groups have been established in recent years. In addition to sharing life perspectives, many accounts also introduce healing services with a commitment to applying reputable treatment methods, with tuition fees ranging from a few hundred thousand VND to tens of millions of VND per course.
Explaining the reason why many young people like to heal, expert Vu Thu Huong, former lecturer at Hanoi University of Education, said that the pressure of daily life and work causes young people to lose balance and fall into a state of depression. , stressed, disoriented.
Experts from the McKinsey Global Institute (USA) believe that previous generations often find it difficult to understand the healing trend of Gen Z because they do not feel that young people are living in a PAID world. In which, P (pressure) is pressure, A (always on) connected 24/7, I (information overloaded) overloaded with information and D (distracted) distracted.
From a medical perspective, Dr. Tran Thi Hong Thu, Deputy Director and Head of Clinical Department of Mai Huong Day Psychiatric Hospital (Hanoi), said that young people’s need for treatment is reflecting the Interest in mental health care is increasing. Statistics in Vietnam show that nearly 15% of the population (about 15 million people) are suffering from mental disorders. The rate of depression and anxiety accounts for 5.4% of the population.
At Ms. Thu’s hospital, the number of young people coming for examination due to stress and prolonged fatigue increased by 15-25% each year. Many patients, before going to see a doctor for consultation, seek out healing courses, but not everyone achieves the expected results.
“They (patients) say they feel comfortable and at ease when participating in healing courses, but when they return to reality, they feel tired and stuck,” said Dr. Hong Thu.
She believes that rushing to participate in healing services can waste money, waste time, affect work and study, and most importantly, cannot solve the root of the problem.
According to expert Vu Thu Huong, the current healing trend partly reflects some young people who have poor endurance, are vulnerable, do not accept difficulties, and develop a mentality of avoiding reality. In addition, the influence of social networks causes some people to imitate and think they have psychological problems, but in fact they do not.
Phuong Ly (23 years old, in Cau Giay, Hanoi) spends 3 million VND a week playing golf to “heal”. Image: Character provided
Anh Ngoc admitted that she receives 15 million in salary every month and does not have to pay for food and accommodation because she lives with her parents, but is always in debt due to loans for treatment. Many times she was reprimanded by her superiors for neglecting her work. “No one can be strong enough to go to work with a soul full of scratches. With a stable spirit, it is easy to advance at work,” Ngoc said.
Unable to bear the “hurt” of failing the interview despite graduating with honors, Phuong Ly, 22 years old, in Cau Giay district, Hanoi, temporarily stopped all plans and took time to relieve stress.
After more than three months of trying all sorts of healing methods such as meditation, yoga, and participating in online psychological counseling classes, Ly was still depressed. She plans to go abroad when she learns about some new, more powerful healing methods such as energy purification ceremonies, baptism, and the ability to freely cry and shout “to receive good things”.
To avoid “losing money and suffering”, Dr. Tran Thi Hong Thu advises each individual, especially young people, when experiencing psychological problems, to seek out qualified doctors and experts to find the root of their problem. problem. Each individual needs to plan work, rest and learn how to cope with stress.
Spending tens of millions of dong every month to make herself more comfortable after breaking up with her lover and being fired, but every time she returns to reality, Truc Uyen, 27 years old, says the pain and feeling of failure remain the same.
Before that, the girl from Bac Giang continuously participated in meditation courses in the mountains, scheduled conversations with famous healing experts on social networks, and traveled to balance her emotions. Even when she sees a new service, she signs up to participate, but she only feels at peace when she participates in the experience, and when it ends, everything falls into place.
“It says it’s healing, but in reality it’s less healing, more harm than good, the loss of money remains the same,” Uyen said.
Thanh Nga – Quynh Nguyen
