Headaches, trembling hands, poor sleep, feeling worthless: Hong Kong’s middle-class mental health crisis
A shock study has found as many three quarters of middle class workers need some form of mental help
Researchers have expressed alarm as a study has shown that while half of the city’s middle class workers believe their mental state to be “normal”, almost 90 per cent of those polled said they have frequently thought about suicide in the past 30 days.
The Caritas Centre for Human Empowerment and Achievement Training study found while most middle-class salarymen and women in Hong Kong believed they were in a healthy mental state, international benchmarks suggest three quarters of the respondents need help.
The multi-part study polled 688 people by phone or internet from the “sandwich class” between May and December last year, asking them how they felt about their ability to handle stress.
About a third of respondents believed their mental condition was “healthy” and half believed it was “normal”. Two thirds said they were able to handle workplace pressures and 69 per cent said they could effectively complete their work. Only 13 per cent had ever sought medical or professional help.
But a different picture was painted when it the came to the World Health Organisation’s 20-question questionnaire, which suggested more than three quarters did need help.