Time to end discrimination against mental illness

A nationwide mental health support hotline — 12356 — will become operational later this year to address the increasing needs of people living with mental illness, according to the National Health Commission.

The move shows the growing demand for mental health services, and the health authorities' determination to more efficiently provide those services. Some better-developed regions already have their local hotlines for mental health services. Under the new arrangement, all city-level areas are required to establish such hotlines staffed by at least two people for at least 18 hours a day to provide mental health education, counseling and other support to people.

Rapid economic growth, urbanization, industrialization, the aging population and pressure of studies have led to an increasing number of mental health cases. Data from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention show that in 2021, the rate of moderate to severe depression in the country was 8.3 percent, meaning about 100 million Chinese have some sort of mental health problem. To make things worse, the center said more teenagers face such problems.

Mental health problems are more challenging to deal with than many diseases not because they are incurable or difficult to control but because most people living with such a condition, or their families, are unwilling to face it squarely. Traditionally, the Chinese people call those living with such a condition shenjing bing (neuropath), which is seen as a curse. Worse, people with mental illness are discriminated against. As a result, many living with such a condition refuse to consult a psychologist or psychiatrist even if they realize their condition is treatable and curable.

When my wife was recently hospitalized for a possible heart condition, her roommate was a woman in her late 20s who was admitted to the hospital because she often suffered from heartache. After a thorough check-up for a few days, the doctors concluded that she was physically very healthy. The young woman's mother told us that she knew that her daughter had some mental health issues and that she had been deceiving her to take sedatives. But she flatly refused our suggestion to consult a psychologist or psychiatrist for her daughter.

"If her case is diagnosed, the sky will fall on my family," the mother said as she broke down.

I therefore suspect the figures for people living with mental health problems provided by the CDC disease control center are much smaller than the actual figures, because many, like the mother and daughter, don't consult a doctor or visit a hospital for treatment.

Liu Wei, a former world table tennis champion and now a Peking University professor, has been using her influence to invite present and former world champions to campuses to give lectures on the struggle they went through to build their careers. "I have heard many cases of students committing suicide after having failed in an exam or scared they would fail, or due to the pressure of studies," Liu said. "Through the champions' stories, I want to encourage students to bravely face all the challenges…"

Considering Chinese people's attitude toward mental health, the establishment of the nationwide hotline is a better way to help people in need, because it would enable potential patients to consult counselors without letting other people know.

According to the health commission, more mental health hospitals, special counseling departments and centers, and specialized clinics will be set up in communities for early intervention. Counselors will receive further training to better deal with cases. Given the government's governance measures, such a plan can materialize within a few years.

But we should be aware that the most important and most challenging thing is to raise public awareness of mental health. More awareness campaigns should be launched in communities and workplaces, and special attention should be paid to school and college campuses to better protect our children.

Only when people accept that mental illness is not only controllable but also curable can people living with mental health problems willingly consult counselors or visit a hospital or make use of the hotline and other services. And only when the public realizes that no one is immune from depression or other mental health conditions can discrimination against people with mental illness end.

The author is former deputy editor-in-chief of China Daily.