There is help out there
LISTENING TO YAN talk enthusiastically about her greatest passion - art - you would never guess that two years ago this 19-year-old was in the depths of despair. She has gone from being an anxious, tearful teenager to a confident art student, but it has been a long and painful journey.
'I used to cry all the time. I was so afraid of failing that I would stay up all night revising and then go to school and take the test without having had any sleep. I was so tired that I couldn't even think,' she said.
Yan was in a Band One school and the stress of the high academic expectations placed on her triggered a serious depression. After sitting her HKCEEs, she spent the summer in a state of fear, worrying about her exam results. She thought about suicide a lot and became so emotionally distraught that she was paralysed by fear, unable to do simple tasks such as open a door.
Yan was admitted to a psychiatric hospital where she was diagnosed as manic depressive and put on a treatment of lithium. The month she spent in hospital was the happiest time she had had in years.
'Being in hospital was like being on holiday. I looked around me and realised that I was not the worst case, by far. Some of the children saw me drawing and said I was a good artist, that made me feel happy,' she said.
Yan's story is not unique. Mental health problems among adolescents are on the increase. Recent statistics released by the Hong Kong Family Welfare Society show that of the 541 cases they handled from March last year to April this year, 14.1 per cent of the students suffer from mental health problems.
The Government's Student Health Service figures also show an increase, from seven per cent in 1998-99 to eight per cent for 2000-01.
Such figures mean that there is a good chance that someone in your class will have a mental health problem. Will you be there to help, or will you merely aggravate the problem? And even if you want to help, do you know what to do?
If someone has a mental health problem, they do not necessarily act like a mad person. Symptoms range from insomnia and loss of appetite to delusions and suicidal thoughts. If a classmate or friend showed such symptoms, tell your teacher, said Family Welfare Society social worker Lee Chi-hung.
'Some situations may be difficult to handle and unsuitable advice can be harmful, so tell a teacher or their parents and offer them emotional support,' he said.
People who were going through a difficult time often just wanted someone to talk to, said Mr Lee. And if they confide their problems to you, keep that trust and do not talk about them behind their back.
'Confidentiality is important - sometimes teasing can be more harmful than the illness,' Mr Lee said.
