1.1. Source of the idea
During my tutorial discussions with my tutor David, I arrived at this idea.
In the tutorial, I observed that workshops suffer from shortcomings such as limited practical effectiveness, inflexible scheduling, and an inability to provide immediate solutions. Compared to proven therapeutic approaches like art therapy, workshops function more as private spaces for stress relief.
How might one obtain assistance at any time and in any place without needing to rely on others’ actions? This is what I must currently contemplate.
I believe there is an ancient Chinese saying that rings very true: Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. After discussing with David, we concluded that we could package a wealth of methods and experience into a service akin to a “toolkit”.
Therefore, I have amended the title to: How can we help China’s Alpha generation youth gain emotional support when facing family issues through collective imagination?
This will be the subject matter of social design and service design.
1.2. Plan
I shall proceed with the design in three aspects:
a. Collaborate and liaise with psychological counselling institutions to obtain professional guidance and extensive case studies.
b. Summarising feedback and outcomes from all interventions in Unit Three, whilst continuing workshops and interviews to gather additional samples.
c. Explore possibilities across different formats (software, web-based platforms, physical installations, artworks).
1.3. Refrence
Oblique Strategies
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oblique_Strategies
Each card bears a brief, abstract prompt or instruction, such as:
‘Use an old idea.’
‘Emphasise the flaws.’
‘What would your closest friend do?’
Purpose: Originally designed for musicians and artists facing creative block → When you draw a card, you must attempt to follow the instruction.
Core concept: Randomness + thinking outside the box → Helps individuals break free from established thought patterns.
Conversation Cards
Content: Cards feature open-ended questions covering life, emotions, relationships, and self-awareness, such as:
‘What is the bravest thing you have ever done?’
‘What did you fear most as a child?’
‘How would you like to be remembered by others?’
Purpose: Primarily designed to facilitate conversation-starting and deepen exchanges between individuals, particularly suited for gatherings of friends, intimate relationships, and mental health discussions.
Core Concept: Guided questioning → Facilitates self-disclosure and dialogue → Enables emotional support or connection.
The Book of Answers
A most intriguing book, more akin to fortune-telling. It offers answers to those facing difficulties through random passages or actions.
Mood Mission
MoodMission is an evidence-based app designed to empower you to overcome feelings of depression and anxiety by discovering new and better ways of coping
When we feel down or anxious, there are heaps of things we can do to help us feel better again. Doing these things can help prevent everyday mood disturbances from developing into mental health issues, such as depression and anxiety disorders.
When you tell MoodMission how you’re feeling, it gives you a tailored list of 5 simple, quick, effective, evidence-based Missions to improve your mood. All Missions are taken from scientific research, made accessible to you through the app, so you can learn exactly how what you’re doing is helping.
2.1. Project Background
a. A significant number of China’s Gen Alpha cohort, experiencing psychological distress stemming from family issues, resort to illegally acquiring psychiatric medications and consuming them in excessive quantities. This leads to self-harm, substance abuse and other harmful behaviours. When facing emotional crises, they turn directly to drugs as a means of rapid escape → indicating a lack of readily available, accessible, and immediate alternative coping mechanisms.
b. A significant proportion of young Chinese individuals lack formal education on family dynamics or intimate relationships within schools or society. This deficiency leaves them without effective communication tools or problem-solving strategies, with some inevitably becoming like those in category a. Most possess no explicit communication techniques or methodologies, forcing them to passively endure, explode, or suppress their emotions → ultimately perpetuating a vicious cycle.
2.2. Core Values of the Approach
Immediacy: Like medicine, readily accessible whenever needed (cards / mini-programs / pocket guides).
Legitimacy & Safety: Avoiding dangerous avenues, reducing overdose risks.
Clear Methodology: Not merely stating ‘communication is important’, but providing actionable steps like ‘When criticised by parents, use these 3 responses’.
Cultural Adaptation: Particularly relevant in Chinese/East Asian contexts, where young people require indirect, buffered, actionable techniques when engaging with parents.
3.1. Possible ways
A. Software
Immediate Comfort Layer: Similar to MoodMission/Headspace SOS, offering 2-5 minute emotional regulation tasks (breathing exercises, writing prompts, audio guidance).
Peer Response Layer: Anonymous confessional + peer support (modelled on Teen Line, peer counselling).
Re-narrative Layer: Introduces an artistic ‘re-creation’ mechanism, translating family conflicts into alternative expressions (text collages, image collages, audio re-editing).
B. Self-Care Cards / Therapy Cards
Two-tiered structure:
Question Cards (Conversation) → Guide users towards expression and reflection (Diary of a CEO-inspired)
Action Cards (Strategy) → Provide users with immediate action prompts or inspiration (Oblique Strategies-inspired)
When using, draw a card at random; the upper section contains a question, the lower section an action prompt.
Functional Division:
Questions: Assist users in naming and articulating emotions (through dialogue, journaling, sharing)
Actions: Offer small breakthrough methods (regulating emotions, breaking deadlocks, creatively addressing family challenges)
Target Effect:
In emotional predicaments, users move beyond merely ‘asking themselves’ to immediately receiving an actionable solution.
3.2. Function
Card-based tools—be it The Book of Answers, Diary of a CEO cards, or Oblique Strategies—function primarily as triggers rather than complete therapies.
This project may be regarded as an extension of the Unit 3 workshop.
Short-term (effective)
Immediate relief: When users encounter difficulties, they need not engage in deep reflection; simply drawing a card provides an “outlet” (expression/small action), preventing an immediate turn to medication or impulsive behaviour.
Expression and externalisation: A common pain point in family issues is the inability to articulate concerns. The cards offer an excuse to voice these thoughts (to oneself/friends/in a group).
Ritual and Randomness: Cards make ‘seeking help’ feel light, less awkward, and somewhat gamified, lowering the barrier to entry.
Long-term perspective (limitations)
The cards themselves will not resolve underlying family conflicts nor substitute for psychological therapy.
Should the user be experiencing severe depression or pronounced self-destructive tendencies, the cards’ efficacy becomes markedly limited and may even appear “too superficial”.
3.3. Possible Approaches to Enhancing Effectiveness
a. Enhance scientific rigour
Draw upon psychological methodologies (such as Nonviolent Communication (NVC), the STOP technique from Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), and the self-talk approach from Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)).
Ensure each card represents not merely ‘inspiration’ but a verifiable technique.
For example:
Question: ‘What do you feel when your parents reprimand you?’
Action: ‘Try rephrasing using NVC’s four-step approach: When I hear… → I feel… → Because I need… → So I would like…’
b. Integrate real-time support resources
Embed ‘upgrade pathways’ within physical or digital cards: should users feel the cards are insufficient, they may navigate to more specialised resources such as counselling helplines or psychological support QR codes. Provide users with a platform enabling them to seek assistance rather than succumbing to self-destructive tendencies.
c. Forming a “Feedback Loop”
The cards not only assign tasks but also encourage users to write down or record their usage experiences. This allows users to observe their own progress over time, receiving “narrative therapy” rather than a single moment of “epiphany”.
4.1. Theoretical Support
A Prospective Study of Familial Conflict, Psychological Stress, and the Development of Substance Use Disorders in Adolescence
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2728005/?utm_source=chatgpt.com
Exposure to familial conflict early in life increases the risk of substance use disorders during late adolescence and emerging adulthood, due partly to higher levels of externalizing problems, but not internalizing problems. Future research is needed to identify additional pathways underlying this association, and the extent to which these pathways are modifiable.
The self-medication hypothesis of substance use disorders: a reconsideration and recent applications
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9385000
Proposed and systematised the “self-medication” hypothesis—whereby individuals employ specific substances to alleviate distressing emotions and interpersonal pressures that prove difficult to regulate; this pattern is closely associated with difficulties in emotional regulation, low self-esteem, and relationship issues.
Relationship of childhood abuse and household dysfunction to many of the leading causes of death in adults. The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9635069
Childhood maltreatment/family dysfunction exhibits a dose-response relationship with multiple health risks in adulthood, including a marked increase in substance use/abuse.
A cross-sectional study: family communication, anxiety, and depression in adolescents: the mediating role of family violence and problematic internet use
https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-023-16637-0?utm_source=chatgpt.com
In conclusion, positive family communication is crucial in reducing anxiety and depression in adolescents. Moreover, problematic internet use and family violence mediate the effects of positive family communication on anxiety and depression. Therefore, improving family communication and promoting interventions aimed at reducing family violence and problematic internet use can help reduce anxiety and depression in adolescents, thus promoting their healthy development.
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