Mental Health in Hong Kong

Do you know that according to a survey done on 2,500 Hongkongers, around 15% of them have some significant neurotic symptoms?

Now try to apply the figure to this 7-million-people city…

Lots of Hongkongers don’t really understand what mental disorder is. When they heard of the word “mental”, they automatically think it has something related to schizophrenia, being violent and untreatable. Even if they can tell and they are suffering from it, they will still leave it alone because they are too scared and embarrassed to look for medical help.

The result? According to a survey done by Mental Health Association of Hong Kong in 2014, half of the interviewees felt “having poor mental health” and 10% of them even thought of suicide.

And as if the situation is not bad enough, the city is severely lacking working psychiatrist, with only around 350 (in June 2016). So we are talking about a patient-doctor ratio of, on average, 4.5 psychiatrists per 100,000 people, which is way lower than the median (8.9 psychiatrists per 100,000 people) for high income regions / countries suggested by a WHO survey.

Of course Hongkongers can also opt for private psychologists…if they can afford it. A one-hour consultation from these experts could cost HK$1,200 to HK$2,000 (around US$154 to US$256) and is not covered in insurance. Who would spend that amount of money for mental reasons when paying HK$200 for some cold medicine is already deemed costly by many in this city?

This explains why the private sector handles only 10% of the patients…

The conclusion, from all these datum and numbers, is that Hongkongers are on verge on mental breakdowns and alleviation of the problem does not seem feasible.

One day, they may lose it and go to choke everyone they see.

So please do not scare them, touch them, feed them or take picture of them.

Thank you for your co-operation.

Bela Vista Villa in Hong Kong

Do you know that the Bela Vista Villa (東堤小築) of Hong Kong is a famous place for…suicide?

Bela Vista Villa, locates in Cheung Chau, Hong Kong Island, is a cluster of vacation bungalows. The villa is close to some historical temples and an awesome beach, a beautiful place with beautiful scene and a beautiful name. Who would have thought it has something to do with such morbid things?

There is (are) reason(s) behind the suicides…or so people believe.

One famous rumor is that in 1989, a divorced woman brought her kid with her to the villa. She killed her kid, and then hung herself in the bungalow while wearing traditional red clothes and shoes (legend said women dying with such clothes would turn into vengeful ghosts). Since then, people have been seeing this “woman in red” wandering in the area and hearing some bone-chilling sobbing from time to time…

Another saying is that a woman broke up with her boyfriend. Feeling upset, she went to the villa and threaten her ex-boyfriend with suicide. But her ex-lover thought that she was only kidding and ignored her. The heart-broken woman thus killed herself by taking sleeping pills and burning charcoal.

The villa has been rumored to be haunted and cursed ever since. What’s worse is that many death-seekers seemed to be affected by the rumors and chose to end their lives at this place. Many people in turn believe the place is heavily shrouded by the “force of yin” and where grudgeful spirits gather.

This creates a vicious cycle of: people commit suicide à the place becomes haunted à more people come to commit suicide in this haunted place à the place becomes more haunted…

Whether you believe in the ghost stories or not, Bela Vista Villa, or even the name Cheung Chau, has more or less become the synonym of “suicide”, and over 20 suicide cases at the resort has been reported.

Maybe people try to imitate what others have been doing unconsciously?

Or maybe…the deceased are lonely and desperately need companions…?

Teenagers' stress in Hong Kong

Do you know that lots of Hong Kong teenagers have no confidence in themselves and don’t know how to pursue their career goals? This conclusion comes from a survey done in 2015 by City University. Sad, isn’t?

The survey was conducted upon 2000 Form 6 students in Hong Kong. While 4 out of 5 students plan to further their studies and know well that they want jobs that provide good development opportunities, 65% of them simply don’t know how to pick a career. They don’t think they can control their career path.

Another survey done recently also suggests that half of the interviewed secondary school students show symptoms of depression, with about 20% being moderate to severe. What’s astonishing is that, about one fourth of the students considered committing suicide just two weeks before the survey. Together with the news of 22 youngsters killing themselves (one of them was only 11) in the first quarter of this year…

Just what is wrong with this society?

Of course the experts will try to give reasons like “the education system is too stressful”, “students cannot handle stress”, “they lack family support’, and some smart dude from the Education Bureau even said “they lack life planning”.

But you know, they know and I know that the problem is way more complex than that.

“Low self-esteem”, “don’t know what to do with life”, “depression”, “suicide”…these factors seem somewhat inter-related to me, but aren’t these signs of middle-age crisis?

Why would Hongkongers facing these while they are still in their 10s or 20s?

Is it because they are too mature?

Or is it because the society expects too much, yet provides too little?