Coronavirus: more than 60 per cent of Hong Kong’s young people do not seek help for mental health issues, survey shows
- KELY Support Group survey finds more than half of respondents feel stressed about their academic performance, future studies and career development
- The survey also discovered about 32 per cent of young people want support such as pressure management and mindfulness meditation
More than 60 per cent of young people in Hong Kong do not seek help when they feel stressed or have negative emotions despite the coronavirus pandemic adding to their pressures, a survey has found, with weak awareness of available services seen as the cause.
KELY Support Group, a local charity that focuses on young people’s well being, polled about 1,300 people aged 14 to 24 about their mental health status between September and October last year.
The results, released on Friday, found more than half of the respondents felt stressed about their academic performance, future studies and career development.
The survey also found 60 per cent chose not to seek help when their mental health deteriorated.
Among the 34 per cent who would seek help, 62 per cent preferred to approach their friends. Fewer than one in five turned to psychologists or other professionals.
KELY said prolonged in-person class suspensions during the coronavirus pandemic had added to young people’s pressures, but they did not know how to properly handle stress.