Scores of middle-aged and older people sit outside a consultation room at the Shanghai Mental Health Centre, waiting to see a senior psychiatrist. One 49-year-old woman among them says most are not seeking treatment for themselves but for their children or grandchildren.
'I am here to seek advice on my 23-year-old son's depression,' she says, refusing to give her name. 'Since being identified with the disease six years ago, he seldom goes to the hospital himself, fearing the social stigma.'
She said he lost his job as a driver six months ago after his employer became aware of his mental state. He now stays at home, spending most of his hours on the computer and shrugging off his parents' suggestions that he look for another job.
'He is our only child and the only one we can rely on when we get old. But I look at his situation and feel really helpless,' she says, bursting into tears.
Experts say the families of the mentally ill face many ordeals, both economic and spiritual, on the mainland, mainly due to the low priority the government places on mental health and a generally unfriendly social environment.
There are only 16,000 licensed psychiatrists on the mainland, while the number of people suffering from various kinds of mental illness is estimated at 100 million according to Jiang Kaida, a top psychiatrist at the centre. That includes 26 million people hit by depression.