Survey Says Epidemic Amplifies Mental Health Crisis

The overall level of mental health in Hong Kong has been worrying in recent years, and the epidemic has magnified the severity of the mental health crisis.

A survey conducted by Mind HK, a local mental health registered charity, found that more than 50% of the respondents had a "poor" overall mental health status, and nearly half of the respondents reported mild to severe depressive symptoms. Nearly two adults had moderate to severe depressive symptoms.

Mind HK pointed out that the public mental health crisis in Hong Kong is obvious and believes that society should also put it first and start to deal with the current crisis.

The overall level of mental health in Hong Kong has been worrying in recent years, and the epidemic has magnified the severity of the mental health crisis.

(File photo/Photo by Zheng Zifeng)

Mind HK commissioned Social Policy Research (SPR) Limited to conduct a questionnaire survey from March 17 to 29 this year, interviewing 1,000 Hong Kong adults in a random sample to understand the impact of the epidemic on the overall mental health of Hong Kong citizens , and the use of mental health support during the fifth wave.

The study pointed out that 37.7% of the respondents said that their mental health has deteriorated since January 2022; 55.6% of the respondents had low scores in the five World Health Organization physical and mental health indicators (WHO-5) A score of 52 (out of 100) indicates that their overall mental health is in a "poor" state.

According to the Depression Symptom Self-Measurement Scale (PHQ-9), 49.4% of the respondents reported mild to severe depressive symptoms, of which 19.2% had moderate to severe depressive symptoms; another 41.3% of the respondents reported The anxiety symptoms self-assessment scale (GAD-7) reflected mild to severe anxiety symptoms, of which 13.7% had moderate to severe anxiety symptoms.

There are many reasons for the deterioration in mental health, including the fifth wave of the virus in recent days and the associated social distancing measures.

(File photo/Photo by Zheng Zifeng)

Limiting social activities negatively affects mental health

Different environmental, social and personal factors can influence the deterioration of mental health.

Mind HK ambassador Annissa shared, “Being told you have to stay home for a long time and limit all your social activities is a shackle of comfort and headache for someone who has suffered from social anxiety and depression. Comfort is because This gives you a legitimate, world-approved reason or excuse to cut back on your social activities and be comfortable being an introvert; and the headache is that being too 'comfortable' increases anxiety."

Relatively poor overall physical and mental health of the elderly

There are many reasons for the deterioration of mental health, including the fifth wave of the epidemic in recent days and related social distancing measures.

From January 2022, the main factors that negatively affect the mental health of citizens include: worry about family members or people they care about contracting Covid-19 (64.2%), anxiety about quarantine and isolation (63.7%), not being able to communicate with others as usual Meeting people (61.5%), unable to go out as usual (60.4%), diagnosed with COVID-19 (including those with positive rapid antigen test results) (55.2%) and unable to go out to exercise (55.1%).

The survey results also showed that students, young people and parents had a worrying level of symptoms of depression and anxiety. Compared with other age groups, the overall physical and mental health of the elderly was also significantly lower.

From January 2022, the main factors that negatively affect the mental health of citizens include: worry about family members or people they care about contracting new coronary pneumonia (64.2%), anxiety about quarantine and isolation (63.7%), etc.

(File photo/Photo by Li Zetong)

In addition, 48.6% of respondents who had been diagnosed with a mental illness said they had never disclosed their condition to anyone, and respondents with mental health problems indicated that some of the main reasons for their difficulty or resistance to seeking help included: Lack of available Mental health services (61.7%), fear of contracting the virus in a clinic or hospital (56.2%) and long wait times for hospital visits (54.8%).

Other important reasons include financial concerns (52.1%) and not knowing where to seek help (49.4%).

Mind HK chief executive and clinical psychologist Dr Hannah Reidy described the findings as worrying, "but, unfortunately, not surprising. Our data shows that nearly half of Hong Kong adults are experiencing clinical signs of depression. Symptoms, more than half of the public said their mental health is poor. Through these data, we can clearly see the current mental health situation in Hong Kong. The epidemic itself is a physical health crisis, but its impact is not only that - it also are seriously affecting our mental health. As a community, we need to do a little more to help each other: have a conversation about mental health, provide the right resources to those in need, find and give support. If you are experiencing mental health Troubled, please remember, you don’t have to face it alone.”

Mind HK believes that the dawn brought by the epidemic is the beginning of the society’s attention and talk about “mental health”, which provides the public with a reason to face up to their own feelings and emotions.

The organisation will continue to launch more mental health-related support plans, resources and services according to the needs of the public, so as to provide effective and reliable mental health support to local citizens.

▼On April 11, the Education Bureau announced that schools will resume classes from 4.19▼

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Under the emotional distress of the epidemic, the platform of the Department of Psychiatry of the University of Hong Kong has followed up more than 100 cases in two years, and 58% of the cases have reached high-risk resumption of classes | The Education Bureau holds an expert seminar in the middle of the month to help school personnel identify students' mental health problems and solve them.

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