Hong Kong people are emotionally troubled by the COVID-19 outbreak. A study conducted by social welfare organizations, mental health self-help platforms and universities found that since the fifth wave of the epidemic, online mental health service users have increased by 60%, of which 47% are users Moderate to very severe anxiety, and the number of people seeking online psychological counseling has nearly tripled, calling on the public to pay attention to their mental and emotional health, make good use of online platforms, and call on the government to allocate more resources to help develop online mental health services. Health is included in the new crown epidemic prevention and recovery plan.
Some people who have been troubled by fertilization disorders came forward and said that during the epidemic, they needed to stay at home to take care of their elderly mother and could not go out. In addition, they were worried that they would not be taken care of when they were old, which led to the recurrence of depression. After using online mental health services, they felt that even in the epidemic I am still under the spotlight, and after communicating and de-stressing, I feel hopeful about life again.
The survey found that online mental health service users increased by 60% during the epidemic.
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The online platform has nearly 7,000 users in the first three months of this year
The "Re:Fresh Online Mental Health Self-Service Platform" funded by Baptist Oi Kwan Social Service Office, Bank of China (Hong Kong), and the Education University of Hong Kong cooperated to conduct a "Study on the Mental Health Status of Community People and the Effectiveness of Online Support under the Epidemic". The platform successfully collected and analyzed data, and successfully collected online questionnaires from 3,749 platform users.
The study found that the fifth wave of the epidemic in January this year aroused public demand for online support services. In the first three months of this year, there were 6,919 users of the platform, an increase of more than 66% compared with the cumulative number of 3,727 from September to December last year.
Chen Jiacheng pointed out that about 47% of platform users experienced moderate to very severe anxiety symptoms.
(Screenshot of the online press conference)
Expert: One out of every two platform users suffers from suspected anxiety symptoms
Chen Jiacheng, head of the Department of Psychology at the Education University of Hong Kong, pointed out that about 47% of platform users experienced moderate to very severe anxiety symptoms, that is, one out of every two people had suspected anxiety; 36% of users experienced moderate to very severe anxiety symptoms. Depressive symptoms, and moderate to very severe stress symptoms in 38% of users.
In other words, the mental health status of at least 30% of adults has reached the clinical level of concern. Among them, 18 to 30 years old belong to the high-risk group, and the situation is worrying.
Platform user Ms. Liang: Depression recurs with symptoms such as insomnia and reluctance to eat
Ms. Liang, a platform user and a 71-year-old retired civil servant, shared that due to the closure of the elderly center due to the epidemic, she needed to stay at home to take care of her elderly mother and could not go out. No one to take care of me and so on, depression relapsed under pressure, insomnia, not wanting to eat, feeling hopeless and very decadent and other symptoms, then I got to know the platform through Facebook and applied for psychological counseling services, I felt that even in the epidemic, I still received attention. And learn how to ease emotions, etc., has recovered.
Ms. Liang (right) shared her experience of being rescued by the platform after depression relapsed.
(Screenshot of the online press conference)
Encouraging emotionally ill people to ask for help: life is not accidental
She believes that online counseling can save time, "don't wash the car, it's fast, beautiful, and upright", but pointed out that the physical counseling is more connected, and if there are serious cases, it is better to use the physical counseling, but the two can cooperate with each other, "the best two are all".
She also pointed out that everyone is more or less depressed, and they may not know or have the courage to ask for help, but life is not accidental.
The group suggested that the government could allocate more resources to assist local organizations to develop online mental health services, so as to improve the quality and efficiency of their services and provide more comprehensive support to the public; they also hoped that the government would incorporate mental health into the new crown epidemic prevention strategy and rehabilitation plan, and Proactive assessment and early identification of those in need can prevent problems from getting worse.
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