Moni⁷

[NEWS] Severance Hospital and #Suga are establishing a specialized treatment center to support the treatment and social independence of patients with autism spectrum disorder. On the 23rd, Severance Hospital held a groundbreaking ceremony for the 'Min Yoon-ki Treatment Center' for the treatment of children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder on the first floor of Jejungwan. This center will support the mental health of children and adolescents through language, psychological, and behavioral therapies, and will operate various programs that link clinical and research.   Even while promoting with BTS, Suga has consistently engaged in charity work and has shown a continued interest in mental health, psychological and behavioral issues, and especially depression in adolescents. He has sought ways to help through his talent and ability in music.   Last November, Suga had the opportunity to communicate with Professor Chun Geun-ah of the Department of Pediatrics at Severance Hospital, an authority in the field of pediatric psychiatry. Through several meetings since then, he learned that patients with autism spectrum disorder require customized treatment that fits their life cycle, but that this is difficult to achieve with existing short-term therapeutic interventions. He also agreed that in order to bring about positive changes in the symptoms of autism spectrum disorder, it is necessary to establish a specialized treatment center that can provide mid- to long-term treatment for more than 10 years, and so announced his intention to donate 5 billion won to Severance Hospital. This is the largest donation ever made by an artist, not only to Severance Children's Hospital but also to the entire Yonsei Medical Center. Since then, Professor Chun and Suga have discussed the establishment of a treatment center and social skills training using music for children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder from the end of last year to the beginning of this year. Based on this, they developed the 'MIND' program, a social skills group program that combines musical content with existing social skills training programs. The MIND program is an acronym that contains the meaning of 'enhancing interaction and sensory experiences through music (Music), encountering opportunities to form social relationships and communicate (Interaction), learning the process of naturally forming relationships through a community (Network), and learning about a society that respects individual diversity and gets along together (Diversity).' Children who participate in this program play instruments, sing songs, write to music, and express their emotions and thoughts through music and writing. From March to June of this year, Suga spent weekends meeting with children with autism spectrum disorder and participated in the development of the program. He played instruments such as the guitar himself, guiding the children to match rhythm and harmony, interact with music, and expand their emotional expression. He even went so far as to teach the children to play instruments themselves. This program has been shown to be effective in helping children with autism spectrum disorder with limited language ability form social relationships. In the future, the Min Yoongi Treatment Center plans to further develop the MIND program and establish a self-sufficient music project model.