🗓️Updates

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• If you take a medicine long term, such as a cholesterol or blood pressure drug, check the leaflet for grapefruit; if it is mentioned, don't eat grapefruit or pomelo and don't drink grapefruit juice §34

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• If your heart races or beats irregularly, get an electrocardiogram (ECG); if atrial fibrillation is found, ask a doctor to assess you for an anticoagulant to prevent stroke, and don't use aspirin instead §1
• Get one hepatitis C antibody test as an adult; if positive, get a nucleic acid test, and if confirmed, take an oral drug for 8 to 12 weeks, which cures the great majority §1
• Before going down into a septic tank, manhole, sewage pit, vegetable cellar, fermentation tank or similar confined space, ventilate it first, get a passing gas test, and put protection and a watcher in place; if you can't, don't go in. If someone collapses inside, don't follow them down; call 119 (China's fire emergency number) and 120 (China's ambulance number) §1
• At 45 or older, if you live in an area with a high rate of stomach or esophageal cancer, have a family history, or test positive for Helicobacter pylori, get a gastroscopy screening §1
• Finish soaked wood ear and white fungus the same meal and don't keep them overnight, eat wet rice noodles such as flat rice noodles and rice noodle rolls the day you buy them, and don't ferment corn or rice flour at home §1
• If prediabetes is found (blood sugar high but not yet diabetes), push diabetes back by eating less, losing weight and moving more, and recheck your blood sugar every 6 months §2
• If peanuts, corn, nuts or rice and flour at home have gone moldy, throw out the whole bag and don't pick out the moldy parts and eat the rest; spit out any nut that tastes bitter right away §2
• Don't eat raw freshwater fish or shrimp such as yusheng (鱼生), sashimi, raw-fish congee or drunken shrimp; if you have often eaten them, get checked once for liver flukes, and if found, take praziquantel as your doctor says §2
• If you have long-term insomnia (3 or more nights a week for 3 months or longer), start with cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia, and don't go straight to taking sleeping pills long term §3
• If you snore loudly, someone has seen you stop breathing in your sleep, or you are so sleepy during the day that you feel like dozing off even while driving, go to a hospital for a sleep study to check for sleep apnea, and if it is moderate to severe, wear a breathing machine at night §3
• Don't have arthroscopic cleanup or the meniscus cut just because middle-aged or older knees slowly start to hurt (osteoarthritis, degenerative meniscal tear); lose weight and strengthen the thigh muscles first §6
• Don't count on melatonin to cure long-term insomnia; it helps people fall asleep only about 7 minutes sooner on average; start with cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia §6

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• Don't demand an IV drip for a cold or an ordinary fever, and don't get a drip at the change of seasons to “flush the blood vessels” or “clear the blood vessels” §6
• When a couple with minor children divorces, write into the divorce agreement who the child lives with, how much the monthly child support is, and how and when visits happen: the more specific it is, the less you will go back to court after the divorce §10
• If a child swallows a button battery, or swallows two or more strong magnetic beads, go at once to the emergency room of a hospital that has endoscopy; don't wait for it to pass on its own and don't make the child vomit §13
• If someone is drunk, lay them on their side and have someone stay with them; don't let them sleep alone; call 120 if they can't be woken, their breathing is slow or irregular, they have seizures, or their body feels cold §13
• If a finger or toe is cut off, press the wound to stop the bleeding, wrap the severed part in damp gauze and put it in a sealed bag, put the bag in ice water, and go to a hospital with a hand surgery department §13
• If a permanent tooth (one that grew in after the baby teeth) is knocked out whole, hold it by the crown and rinse it briefly, put it back if you can, and if you can't, soak it in milk and see a dentist right away; don't put a baby tooth back §13
• Before you change your phone number or stop using your old one, move your bank, payment and social accounts to the new number first, and don't just let the old one run up unpaid bills until it is cut off §14
• If you have had gout, don't eat large amounts of meat and seafood at one sitting at a barbecue or group meal, and drink less alcohol §16
• If tests find hepatitis B surface antigen positive, get a liver ultrasound plus an alpha-fetoprotein test every 6 months, let your doctor's assessment decide whether you take antiviral drugs, and once you start, don't stop on your own §16
• If you have COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, 慢阻肺), have your doctor or pharmacist watch you use your inhaler once at each follow-up visit; if you have been hospitalized for an acute flare-up, go to pulmonary rehabilitation after you leave the hospital §16
• If you have diabetes, get a urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio and a blood creatinine test every year, and do the same if you have high blood pressure, to catch chronic kidney disease early §16
• If you have finished surgery and chemotherapy for colon cancer, join a guided exercise program and keep at it for a full three years §16
• When you get things for a baby, don't buy a walker with wheels; if you want the baby to sit and play, switch to a stationary play station or a playpen without wheels §20
• Give the child 400 international units (IU) of vitamin D every day from birth, and don't skip it especially if breastfed; a full-term baby generally doesn't need extra calcium within the first 6 months §20
• When bathing a baby, run cold water first and then add hot, and test it with the inside of your wrist or your elbow before putting the baby in; if your water heater lets you set the output temperature, set it below 50 ℃ §20
• Don't soak in a hot spring or use a sauna after drinking alcohol, and don't take a hot bath when you get home either §22
• Wear a helmet when skiing, snowboarding, roller skating or mountain biking §22
• If flu season comes while you're pregnant, get one inactivated flu vaccine shot, which can be given at any stage of pregnancy; don't use the nasal spray §27
• From 28 weeks of pregnancy on, go to sleep on your side, left or right, and don't go to sleep lying on your back §27
• Once you resume sex after giving birth, use contraception; breastfeeding is not contraception; if you want another baby, wait at least 18 months before getting pregnant §27
• After a car crash, an assault or a disaster yourself, don't count on a one-time psychological debriefing right after the event; if a month later nightmares, flashbacks and being on edge are still severe, see a psychiatrist for trauma-focused psychotherapy §29
• Teach a child which parts of the body are private, and to tell you at home if anyone touches them or asks for secrecy; if the child tells you, believe them first and don't scold, then take them to report to the police and to a doctor §30
• If a child hits their head during sports and afterward has a headache, dizziness or feels dazed, don't let them play again that day; if there is repeated vomiting, growing drowsiness or a worsening headache, go to the emergency department right away §30
• If you have taken a cold medicine or allergy medicine that contains chlorpheniramine (扑尔敏) or diphenhydramine, don't drive, work at heights or operate machines while taking it §34

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• Don't skip saving just because “people can die at any time, so it's happier to spend the money early”; about 90% of 30-year-olds live to 60 §6
• Before going on to a master's after your bachelor's, first work out the tuition and the two or three years of pay you give up, then see whether your field pays more; if you already work, you can study part-time, and the certificate has the same force as a full-time one §23
• Before going on to a PhD after your master's, do it only if the job you are aiming at clearly requires one, and count the mental strain before you start §23

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• If you already wanted a dog, count the daily walks as part of your walking, and don't get a dog just to live longer §2
• Don't count on an AI chatbot to judge your illness or legal problem on its own; before seeing a doctor, going to court or spending big money, find the original source for what it cites and check it §6
• If an older person walks a dog, hold the leash in the palm of the hand and don't wrap it around the hand, keep the leash short, and first train the dog not to lunge forward on the leash §17
• If you're pregnant, you don't have to send the cat away: have someone else scoop the litter every day, cook meat through, and wear gloves when handling soil §27

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• Ask someone close to you who seems off, directly, “Have you thought about suicide?” Asking does not make them think about it more §1
• If you are vegetarian while pregnant or breastfeeding, take vitamin B12 every day; the child's solid foods need animal foods, and if you insist on fully vegan, see a doctor first §20

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• If hot flashes and night sweats around menopause are affecting your life, see a gynecologist about hormone therapy; don't just put up with it, don't buy the drugs yourself, and don't use it to prevent heart disease §2
• For period pain, take a painkiller such as ibuprofen rather than toughing it out; if the pain keeps you from work or school, or three months of medicine doesn't control it, see a gynecologist §3

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• Don't count on heavy calcium supplements or bone broth to make bones heal faster after a fracture §6

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• Fit good locks on doors and windows, put a motion-sensor light outside the door, and really lock up when you go out: these are what prevent burglary, and an alarm alone shows no benefit §8
• Don't hand your code, keys and private files to an unknown "AI relay service" (AI 中转站), especially when you let the AI run commands automatically §14
• For teeth straightening, see a doctor with orthodontic qualifications for an in-person exam and keep your follow-up visits; don't buy aligners online and wear them at home on your own §28
• Don't send a child to a locked-down “internet addiction school” or “special training camp”: the law forbids using methods that harm body and mind to curb internet addiction, and children have been locked up to death §30

2 new

• Before using an angle grinder, fit the guard, wear safety glasses plus a face shield, hold it firmly with both hands, and never mount a wood saw blade to cut wood §1
• Don't count on learning a “correct lifting posture” or taking a lifting course to prevent back pain; what to cut is the weight and number of lifts, and exercise regularly §6

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• Refuse when an acquaintance asks you to "scan your face and be a witness" to take out a loan, or asks you to read out a verification code: this is called an AB loan (AB贷), and the borrower is you, not a guarantor §8
• Localizing comics, reposting films and TV, sharing cloud-drive files and pirated e-books is infringement even without charging; running ads or collecting membership fees can lead to a prison sentence §9
• Before paying someone to run your online shop, taking a shop-opening course, or doing "no-inventory" selling, ask whether more money will be demanded later and where the sales will come from §12

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• Before stepping onto wild ice, drill a hole and measure the thickness; don't go on if it is under 15 cm, and stay off river ice and the edges of ice-fishing holes §1

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• Women over 65 should get one dual-energy X-ray bone density scan, and after menopause, women with risk factors for osteoporosis shouldn't wait until 65 §1
• If osteoporosis is found, or you have broken a bone from a light fall, ask a doctor to prescribe an anti-osteoporosis drug and keep using it; calcium supplements are not a substitute §1
• Turn on the range hood when you stir-fry or deep-fry, from the moment you light the stove until you finish cooking §2
• If your relationship is stuck in repeated fights and cold silences, go to couples therapy together: waiting around will basically not fix it by itself §10
• If a baby under 1 year old is choking and can't cry, lay the baby face down and give 5 back blows, turn the baby over and give 5 chest pushes, alternating, and don't press the belly §13
• If a baby under 1 year old is unresponsive and not breathing normally, put the phone on speaker and call 120 (China's ambulance number), and give infant CPR: 30 pushes and 2 breaths §13
• If an older person's cataract already affects seeing the way, go to an eye doctor for an assessment and surgery; if both eyes have it, don't delay the second one too long §17
• Watch for the signs of newborn jaundice: if the baby is yellow within 24 hours of birth, or can't be woken or won't feed, go to the hospital the same day; if it is getting more yellow or the stool is pale, get it checked as soon as possible §20
• Don't hit your child, and don't yell or call them stupid: children who are often hit or yelled at have more behavior and emotional problems §30
• Take a parenting course that teaches concrete methods if your child is hard to manage and you keep losing control and hitting or yelling §30
• Clear out expired and unused leftover medicines on a regular schedule, and drop them with their packaging into the hazardous waste bin; don't keep them at home §34
• Don't drink alcohol while taking antibacterial drugs like cephalosporins or metronidazole, or for 7 days after stopping, and don't touch alcohol-containing medicines such as Huoxiang Zhengqi liquid (藿香正气水) or cough syrup §34

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• If you keep gambling with borrowed money and your mood stays low, call 12356 (China's national mental-health hotline) first, then hand your bank cards and payment passwords to a family member to manage §1
• If you are a man who has sex with men and has high-risk sex, ask a designated HIV hospital about pre-exposure prophylaxis; taken on schedule, it cuts infections by about 70% §1
• Don't believe that “masturbation harms the body” or that you must “quit lust” (戒色) to get better; what to watch is whether it is costing you sleep, work and relationships §6
• Don't pay for “sexual orientation conversion” or “homosexuality treatment,” and don't send a family member to it §6
• Don't marry while hiding your sexual orientation, and don't treat a marriage in name only (形婚) as a convenient shortcut: legally it is a real marriage, and the only way out is divorce §10
• After a sexual assault, first get to a safe place and call 110 (China's police number); before the medical exam don't shower, wash clothes or tidy the room, and go to a hospital within 72 hours §13
• Check whether sleep, homework and getting outdoors are being squeezed out before you fix on how long a child plays §30
• Don't scold a child who says they like the same sex, throw them out or send them for “conversion”: how the family reacts is linked to whether they attempt suicide §30

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• Buy insurance only for losses you can't bear yourself, and cover losses you can bear with your emergency fund §5
• If people at home live on your income, buy term life insurance for the earner first, not for the children §5
• Before you sign at a bank counter, check whether what you are holding is a deposit or insurance §5
• Before taking two cold medicines or two painkillers together, read the ingredient list; acetaminophen (paracetamol) should come from only one of them, and if you took too much, go to the hospital the same day even if you feel fine §34
• Don't use aspirin, nimesulide (尼美舒利) or metamizole (安乃近) for a child's fever, don't give minors cold medicines that contain metamizole, and measure liquid fever reducers with the dosing device that comes in the box §34
• If you are 60 or older, have had stomach bleeding, or take blood thinners or steroids, ask a doctor before taking painkillers like ibuprofen §34
• Don't give a child aged 2 or younger combination cold medicines or cough medicines on your own for a cold §34
• After 20 weeks of pregnancy, don't take painkillers like ibuprofen on your own §34
• If you buy omeprazole yourself for acid reflux and heartburn, take it for 7 days at most; go straight to the hospital for trouble swallowing, vomiting blood or black stools §34
• Don't ask a doctor for antibiotics for an ordinary cold §34
• For diarrhea, first drink oral rehydration salts to replace fluid, and don't give anti-diarrhea drugs to children aged 5 or younger §34
• Don't take painkillers on more than 15 days a month, or combination painkillers on more than 10 days, or the headache may be caused by the medicine itself §34

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• Cook with vegetable oil instead of lard and butter, don't swap oils for your health, and don't count on flaxseed oil to protect your heart §2

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• When angry, don't vent by hitting a punching bag or running a lap; slow your body down first §3
• If something is weighing on you, you can write down your thoughts and feelings over several days, but don't expect it to cure anything §3
• When something happens at the scene, shoot the whole scene first, then the positions, and last the damage and injuries; don't delete the original photos and videos §8
• Treat the quality of a relationship as a health account: argue about the issue, not the person, and don't insult or sneer §10
• If you are bullied, insulted or obstructed at work over a long time, don't just endure it: write it down and keep evidence first, then take the complaint, police or arbitration route that fits §19

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• Sell stocks that have lost money by a rule you set in advance, and don't count on averaging down to turn things around §5
• Don't trade stocks often, and trade even less when the market soars or crashes §5

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• If you have erection problems, get your cardiovascular health checked first; don't treat it as only a “private matter” §1
• Lose weight, quit smoking, and keep blood pressure and blood sugar under control; erectile function can improve along with them §1
• Don't try to quit by willpower alone; get medicine first, which more than doubles your chance of success §2
• Set a quit day and stop all at once on that day, rather than cutting down gradually first §2
• Go to a quit-smoking clinic, or call 12320 (China's public health hotline) to ask whether there is a quit-smoking service near you §2
• Consider e-cigarettes only if you really can't quit otherwise, and don't touch them if you don't already smoke §2
• If you drink every day and your hands shake and your heart races when you stop, don't try to quit cold turkey on your own §2
• To drink less, first count how much you drink in a week, then spend a few minutes talking to a doctor §2
• Keep naps to half an hour and no more than an hour; if you can only get through the day with a 1- or 2-hour sleep, find out why §2
• Catch up on sleep the night after a late night, rather than saving it for the weekend §2
• The longer you work night shifts, the higher your cardiovascular risk; if you can move to another position, do it sooner §2
• Treat procrastination as avoiding something unpleasant, not as not trying hard enough §4

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• Put what you need within reach and move what you don't want to touch farther away; don't count on holding back in the moment §4
• Put your own money on the line to make yourself follow through, but first ask whether you would be willing to §4
• Count new habits in months, not in "21 days" §4
• If procrastination is already affecting your life, use self-help materials backed by randomized trials; you don't have to see a therapist §4
• Don't believe that “willpower is like a muscle that runs out after a while” §6
• Don't count on eating breakfast or 16:8 intermittent fasting to control your weight; choose meal times you can keep up long term §6
• If one eye is swollen, painful and red, lights have a rainbow ring around them, and there is headache with nausea or vomiting, go to the eye emergency room the same day §13
• If a child has severe eczema or an egg allergy, don't avoid peanuts: add them early as the doctor directs, but never give whole peanuts §20
• After studying, close the book and test yourself instead of rereading §23
• Spread the same study time over several days instead of learning it all at once §23
• Don't make highlighting, rereading and summarizing your main way to study §23
• Mix several kinds of problems when you practice, instead of doing twenty of one kind in a row §23
• Don't choose how to study by “I'm a visual learner, he's an auditory learner” §23
• For things you have to memorize, quiz yourself in the way you will use them later, instead of reciting them as written and calling it done §23
• Give no screens at ages 0 to 3, avoid them as far as possible at 3 to 6, and keep non-study use to no more than 1 hour a day for school-age children §30
• Treat myopia as damage that stays: the stronger the prescription, the more retinal detachment, macular disease and glaucoma later §30
• After a spinal cord injury, if there is a sudden severe headache and sweating, help the person sit up straight, loosen clothing, and call 120 (China's ambulance number) at the same time §33
• Treat the first ten years after a spinal cord injury leaves you disabled as a high-risk period for suicide, and don't write it off as something “cheer up” will fix §33
• Someone who provides long-term care for a disabled person at home needs someone watching over their own health §33
• If you use a wheelchair long term, switch to a pressure-relieving cushion and check the sitting bones and tailbone once a day §33
• Don't buy treatments and devices that claim to “cure paralysis, blindness or deafness” §33
• Do rehabilitation at a proper facility with a rehabilitation medicine department, and let the therapist set the intensity: harder is not better (the evidence comes from stroke) §33
• If your hearing is getting worse, get hearing aids, and do it so you can hear, not to prevent dementia §33

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• Don't pick up, take apart or sell metal parts of unknown origin, and stay away from anything with a trefoil warning sign §1
• Don't make “how other people are doing” your daily reading: set limits on, or turn off, apps that show your peers' posts §3
• When you feel that “everyone saw me embarrass myself,” cut that estimate in half §3
• Treat the thought “other people demand perfection from me” as a symptom, not as fact §3
• Count bead bracelets, jade, luxury watches and designer toys by "money spent," not "money saved" §5
• Treat blind boxes, gacha pulls and other random sales as money that will not come back §5
• Don't rely on a general checkup package to prevent disease; get the few screenings that have evidence for your age and sex §6
• Don't buy crystals, bead bracelets or pixiu (貔貅) charms for “changing your luck,” “attracting wealth” or “nurturing” you §6
• Don't count on buying things to improve your mood or sense of identity §6
• Don't spend more on a home, car or social circle to “move up a notch among the people around you” §6
• Don't test other people's systems without written authorization; "good intentions" and "reporting afterward" are not defenses §11
• Report vulnerabilities as the rules require, and before they are fixed don't publish the details, release exploit tools or hand them to anyone abroad §11

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• When a suicidal thought comes up, tell one person near you first, and hand over those next few dozen minutes §1
• Don't count on being “saved” as a safety net: after swallowing pesticide or breathing in gas, the emergency room can save a life, but not the lungs or the brain §1
• Don't gamble on “a few days lying down and I'll be fine” after a fall from a height: most people who reach a trauma ICU survive, but the cost is counted in years §1
• Don't sell a kidney for money thinking “one less kidney is nothing”: the remaining one does the work of two, and 86% of people who sold a kidney said their health got worse afterward §1
• Treat police officers, doctors and bank tellers as people working by the rules of their jobs, not as roles: what moves things forward is paperwork and deadlines, not emotion §3
• Don't treat giving blood as a health measure: there is no randomized trial behind “detox, lower blood fats, prevent heart attack,” and giving too often really does leave you short of iron §6
• Don't start uric-acid-lowering drugs just because a checkup found high uric acid when you've never had gout pain §6
• Don't have your gallbladder removed as a precaution just because a checkup found gallstones when you've never had pain §6
• Don't cut out calcium to prevent kidney stones §6
• Don't stage accidents or exaggerate losses to cheat on a claim: this is the crime of insurance fraud, and the people who testify for you, repair your car or assess your loss are convicted with you §9
• Don't sell your own organs and don't help anyone find a donor: a kidney that earns the seller just over 20,000 CNY is resold for 200,000 CNY, and the money is confiscated and a fine of 10 to 20 times the transaction amount is imposed §9
• If you have had a kidney stone, drink 2.5–3 liters of water a day and keep salt to no more than 6 grams §16

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• If gout is diagnosed and you have tophi, bone erosion on imaging, or 2 or more attacks a year, take a urate-lowering drug long term, bring blood uric acid below 360 µmol/L and keep it there §16
• If someone at home is bedridden for a long time, treat pressure sores as the number one enemy: use a powered air mattress, turn them on a schedule, and check the bony spots every day §17
• If you have no relatives and no friends, replace “the person who keeps watch on you” with three things: a neighbor who can get into your home, the community's visit list, and an emergency contact in your phone §29

5 new

• If a knife, steel rod or glass is stuck in the body, press around the object to stop bleeding and do not pull it out §13
• If you suspect a fracture, stop moving that part, support it still, use a cold pack for no more than 20 minutes, and don't try to straighten it yourself §13
• Count schooling in the death-rate ledger too: each extra year of education lowers adult death risk by about 1.9% §23
• Turn “study or work” into a calculation: compare the three years of pay you'd earn by working now against the yearly income gap you'd gain over the next several decades by staying in school §23
• For a serious or urgent injury or illness, go straight to the emergency triage desk and don't line up at the registration window §24

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• Don't have sex with someone who is drunk to the point of being unaware, asleep, or who may be under 14 §8
• If an older person falls or someone collapses, crouch down, call to them and call 120 (China's ambulance number); don't rush to pull them up. Walking away from a stranger is also legal in China, but if you stop, don't move them §13
• If you come upon a group fighting, back away and leave; don't step in to break it up, don't stand and watch, and don't pick up anything from the ground; if you report it, move to a safe distance and dial 110 (China's police number) §13
• In the first days after a loved one dies, don't be alone; if you have heart disease, high blood pressure or diabetes, keep taking your medicine, and call 120 (China's ambulance number) if your chest feels crushed §29
• In the week you are told a serious diagnosis, don't go alone to get the results, and put decisions other than treatment off until later §29
• After losing a job, first fix your daily routine, your medical insurance and your job-search rhythm, and don't stay home all day §29
• If a loved one died by suicide, an accident or a homicide, don't try to tough it out; reach out for professional help §29
• In the first six months after a spouse dies, put meals, sleep, chronic-illness medicine and follow-up checks in the hands of one particular person who keeps watch §29
• After a parent dies, tell the child the truth and let them attend the farewell §29
• If grief is still stuck after six months and you can't get through your days, register at a psychiatry or clinical psychology department §29
• Don't start by paying for grief counseling; first see whether your grief is truly stuck (the symptoms in ) §29
• After separation or divorce, don't let your medical insurance lapse, and don't prop yourself up with alcohol §29

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• To have someone talk with you, call 12356 (China's national mental-health hotline); minors and teenagers call 12355 (national youth integrated service platform); to see a doctor, register at a psychological clinic §29
• In the first three months after a blow, put off every big decision that can't be undone §29
• Take a child to the hospital right away for sudden, worsening severe pain; don't make him hold out until school ends §30
• Don't put off treatment that is due just to “wait until exams are over”; some windows follow bone age, not the exam calendar §30
• If a child is bullied, report it to the school the same day and ask for a written response; report fights, extortion and rumor-spreading straight to the police §30
• Get a child at least 2 hours outdoors every day, the only way to prevent myopia that is currently supported by a randomized trial §30
• Read the report from the yearly school health checkup yourself, and take any abnormal item to a hospital the same year §30
• Have a child aged 12 to 18 screened for depression once, and don't treat the school's psychological assessment as a diagnosis §30
• Don't buy products or services that claim to “cure myopia” or “reduce the prescription” §30
• If poor eyesight is found, get a dilated eye exam at a hospital, then go back for follow-up at the intervals the doctor gives §30
• Get pit-and-fissure sealants once the permanent molars come in §30