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Seong Hyeon Choi

When Kate* began working as a salesgirl, she decided to tell her boss that she was receiving treatment for depression.
She was taken aback when she was told: “Depression cannot be used as an excuse for poor performance.”
“My boss even went behind my back and told other colleagues that I might have a breakdown and vent my frustration at the customers, but that never happened,” Kate said.
She stayed at the job for a year.
Speaking to the Post ahead of World Mental Health Day on Monday, she said she became sad and withdrawn in her teens, after being bullied by classmates in Form 4 and struggling with academic pressure.
World Mental Health Month: 5 Hong Kong events to raise awareness
She could not describe what she felt to her family, Kate said, adding that she saw a psychiatrist at a public hospital and was diagnosed with depression, but that had not helped much.
“They would only ask if I took my medicine on time,” she said. “They did not focus on what I was experiencing, or taking care of my emotions.”
She recovered after seeing a psychiatrist in private practice for two years and is no longer on medication, but said people with mental health problems continue to face difficulty in Hong Kong workplaces.
“Some senior colleagues feel youngsters with a mood disorder are just weak,” said Kate, now 24 and working for an NGO.
Psychiatrist Michael Wong Ming-cheuk, president of the Hong Kong Association of Psychosocial Rehabilitation, said the fear of facing prejudice had stopped people with mental health problems from revealing their condition to their employers or colleagues.
In a survey he conducted with the Asian Association of Neuropsychopharmacology, nine in 10 people with mood disorders said their ability to work was affected by workplace bias against mental illness.

Nearly seven in 10 said colleagues had expressed doubts about their ability to work, and more than half said they had faced rejection, dismissal, demotion, a pay cut or lost out on a promotion because of their mental illness.
“Around 60 per cent of the patients did not want to tell their employers about their mental illness and worried about prejudice,” Wong said. “For example, people may think they are unstable, will behave abnormally at work or take leave often.”
Of the 340 people who took part in the online survey last month, 174 were members of the public, 106 were doctors and 60 were people with mental illnesses such as depression, anxiety disorder, bipolar disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder.
More than four in five members of the public surveyed felt that having a mood disorder would affect a person’s ability to work.
Many of the patients said they felt it would be hard for them to find a job.
Mental health charity’s new CEO brings her life experiences to the job
Most doctors in the survey agreed that workplace bias would only make things worse, causing patients to withdraw socially, affecting their performance and causing their symptoms to deteriorate.
“Stigmatisation may affect the cause of the illness and the disease can become more severe,” Wong warned.
One in five Hongkongers has a mood disorder, including depression and anxiety, according to research by Chinese University.
Wong appealed to the public to learn more about mental health and dispel misunderstandings about mood disorders.
“We want to increase the knowledge of the general public and employers about mental illness and help them feel safe about working with people with mental health issues,” he said.
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Wong said mood disorders could be treated, with therapy and medication. He explained that there were programmes, including interpersonal therapy, to help employers work better with staff who had mental health issues.
October 10 has been designated by the World Federation for Mental Health as World Mental Health Day since 1992, with the event created to raise global awareness and gather support for people living with mental illness.
It is also a day for psychiatrists and psychologists to share their insights on mental health.
“A person with a mood disorder is just an ordinary person with the same ability to work as anyone else,” Wong said. “What we may have to do is show a little patience and provide them opportunities to fit in with other employees.”
On the research findings, Joseph Siu Chu-shek, president of the Hong Kong Association of Doctors in Clinical Psychology, said more light should be shed on the stigmatisation of mental illness in Hong Kong.
“Mental illness patients are a deprived community in Hong Kong ... Because of cultural stigmatisation, it’s difficult for them to seek any support, which may slow down their recovery,” he said.
Siu also stressed that to improve the current lack of understanding on mood disorders, there must be sufficient education policies and media efforts to remove negative portrayals of mental illness patients.
* Name changed at interviewee’s request.


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Hong Kong workplaces can be kinder, say employees facing prejudice, hurtful comments over mental health

Workplaces in Hong Kong must do more to accommodate people with mood disorders, according to employees with mental health issues. Photo: Shutterstock

Some 90 per cent of respondents with mood disorders told a survey their ability to work was affected by workplace bias against mental illness. Photo: Jonathan Wong

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Clinical psychologist Dr Tess Browne. Photo: Handout

Dr Ivan Mak, a psychiatrist and member of the Mental Health Association of Hong Kong. Photo: Edward Wong

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Many don’t reveal their mental health condition to bosses for fear of being put down, survey shows
On World Mental Health Day, psychiatrist urges employers to do more for workers trying to cope



Many don’t reveal their mental health issues to bosses for fear of being put down, survey shows.


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