Hong Kong psychiatrists volunteer to help city heal after stress of anti-government protests

A group of Hong Kong psychiatrists have volunteered to provide free or low cost mental health services for people affected by the recent social unrest in the city.

Describing the mental pressure faced by the city’s residents as more serious than during the Occupy movement in 2014, the Hong Kong College of Psychiatrists announced it would launch the new ‘Care4ALL’ mental health programme next week.

The scheme, which will run until February, will aim to provide preliminary assessment and consultation for people suspected mental health problems directly related to the recent social unrest.

“This time, the emotional disturbances experienced by people in reaction to the social turmoil is more serious. Violence has happened more frequently and non-stop,” said Roger Ng Man Kin, the college’s president.

Common mental health problems triggered by the social unrest include depression, anxiety disorder, acute stress reaction, and post-traumatic stress disorder, said May Lam Mei-ling, the school’s vice-president. She cited an example of an older woman, who was diagnosed with acute stress reaction after watching the news on television until 3am last Monday, after late-night violence in Yuen Long MTR station, when a mob in white T-shirts attacked passengers indiscriminately. The woman woke up the next day and forgot where she was, and was afraid of being attacked, even at home, a symptom typical of acute stress reaction.

Lam advised the public to be aware of their own mental state, and that of people around them, and avoid spending too much time on the news, especially on videos that contained violent content.

Hong Kong has been rocked by weeks of protests against the controversial extradition bill, which has now been shelved, but would have allowed the transfer of suspects to jurisdictions with which the city has no such agreement, including mainland China.