Of Hong Kong's 6.5 million people, it is estimated 178,000 people, or 2.75 per cent of the population, are mentally ill. The figure corresponds with global mental-illness rates, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).
About 90 per cent of Hong Kong's mentally ill seek medical help. Common afflictions include depression, schizophrenia, insomnia, anxiety disorder, a phobia or mania.
'The majority of these cases are handled by family doctors. When they can't help the patients, they refer the cases to us,' said Dr Tsang Fan-kwong, senior medical officer of Castle Peak Hospital.
'What we worry most about are those who live by themselves and have no family. They don't seek help or they stop after a few visits,' he added.
There are four mental hospitals in Hong Kong - Castle Peak Hospital, Kwai Chung Hospital, Lai Chi Kok Hospital and Siu Lam Psychiatric Centre - providing a total of 4,902 beds.
For discharged patients, there are 13 outpatient clinics throughout the SAR. There are also departments of psychiatry that cater to mental patients in seven hospitals - Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital, Queen Mary Hospital, Prince of Wales Hospital, Sha Tin Hospital, Kowloon Hospital, United Christian Hospital and Tuen Mun Hospital.