Hong Kong lawmakers, experts warn of risks of medicalising mental health issues, call for more support after schools send 168 pupils to psychiatrists
- Total of 168 students with mental distress referred to public psychiatry clinics through government suicide prevention mechanism as of March
- ‘It’s possible that principals are not yet familiar with the operation of the mechanism, so they do not know whether the cases need a psychiatric referral,’ Professor Paul Yip says
Hong Kong lawmakers and experts have warned against medicalising mental health issues, after school principals referred more than 160 pupils to psychiatrists through a government suicide prevention mechanism.
They also called for more support for schools and the community as the Education Bureau updated lawmakers on Wednesday on the mechanism, set up in December last year in response to an uptick in student suicide cases.
A total of 168 students with mental distress had been referred to public psychiatry clinics through the three-tier school-based emergency mechanism as of March, the bureau revealed. Seventy-five inquiries from principals had also been received through a designated hotline.
But only 3 per cent of the cases were categorised as urgent. Forty per cent were semi-urgent, while the rest were stable or already receiving psychiatric care.
Sixty-nine students were referred for off-campus support provided by five designated non-governmental organisations.
The mechanism includes identifying at-risk students, providing external support from NGOs for schools with limited resources and prioritising severe cases through public psychiatric referrals.