Hong Kong mass protests against government’s extradition bill push more locals to seek psychological support
- Red Cross and mental health experts report surge in Hongkongers reaching out for emotional help
- One Expert says the turmoil has ‘has hit young people significantly’
A week of massive protests in defiance of the government’s extradition bill have driven an increasing number of Hongkongers to seek psychological support, according to two local counselling services.
Experts on Monday called on media outlets and movement organisers not to play up the tragedy of a male protester who fell to his death on Saturday from near the top of Pacific Place, the well-known shopping centre in Admiralty, some time after he unfurled an anti-bill banner there.
Professor Paul Yip Siu-fai, head of the Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention at the University of Hong Kong, said 158 people reached out for emotional help on the online platform “Open Up” in the four hours after the man’s death – more than 10 times the number of calls that would come in during the same period on a regular day.
Yip said the current development was worrying and urged media outlets to exercise prudence by not playing up the tragedy.
“I am worried there could be copycats – especially among young people – if the media tries to glorify the victim in a sensational way,” he said. “The incident has hit the young people significantly and I really fear someone might think ‘If he sacrificed himself [for the cause], why not me?’”
Yip said he had related his concerns to the leaders of the Civil Human Rights Front – the organisers of the march – and was pleased that they did not use the death way to mobilise people for Sunday’s demonstration.