Co-ordinated and visionary policy needed on mental health
The long waiting time to receive psychiatric treatment (at least six months), the short-consultation period per patient (five minutes) and the adverse side effects of psychiatric drugs are well known in Hong Kong.
Psychiatric services are facing rising demand but this has not been matched by an increase in resources. Furthermore, the mental well-being of the community will not improve if health policy is still mainly medical and hospital based.
Research by the Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention, shows that about 400,000 adults (aged 20-59) have symptoms of depression. Increasing the number of psychiatrists will help, however, support from the community has also been found to be crucial in helping patients to rejoin society. More explicitly, family support, employment opportunities and drug compliance have been shown to reduce the suicide rate among discharged mental illness patients.
We also need to reach out to vulnerable groups such as the unemployed, the divorced, low income families, and those in financial debt.
A greater awareness of the symptoms of depression in the community would also be useful. A family-friendly working environment and a better school curriculum would also help.
Though the government has spent a considerable amount of resources on mental health, we still only have a piecemeal policy at present. We are calling for an integrated, co-ordinated, committed and visionary mental health policy with clearly defined objectives.
The community project led by the Eastern District Police Commander is one example of how the mental well-being of the community can be enhanced by the involvement of the housing department and school personnel.
Mental health patients need to be monitored after discharge and students and teachers should be better informed about the symptoms of depression.
We not only have to destigmatise mental illness within the community but in the government's policy making too.
Paul Yip, director, Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention, University of Hong Kong
