People in Hong Kong reveal a serious lack of understanding of mental illness - with the result that when things go wrong they are lost, a study shows.

They end up sick and don't know where to turn, the study continues.

Only 19 percent of the 1,044 people interviewed in the survey showed they can adequately identify the symptoms of mental illness, including depression, anxiety disorders, and schizophrenia.

In sharp contrast, 67 percent in Australia and 75 percent in Canada in similar studies responded that they were able to identify the symptoms, the local study cites.

Many interviewees mistook the symptoms of depression for symptoms of physical illnesses, including poor appetite, inability to concentrate, insomnia, and emotional trauma, according to the study.

The result was that when people encountered difficulties, they failed to reach out to receive treatment in a timely manner.

Angus Lam Yuk-kit, senior research associate at the Department of Applied Social Science at City University of Hong Kong who participated in the study, said the delay in identifying mental illness may cause the duration of treatment to be lengthened from 12 weeks to a year.

The study, jointly conducted by the Lam's department and the Mental Health Association of Hong Kong, also reveals that 40 percent of people were unaware that general practitioners have a role to play in offering psychological help.

General practitioners, who should be able to identify different kinds of mental illness and the level of severity, help to raise the efficiency of treating mental patients, Lam said.

He encouraged patients identified with slight-to-moderate mental illness to get prescriptions directly from the general practitioners.

They will be transferred to more specialized psychiatric hospitals if necessary, Lam said.

Currently, Hong Kong faces a severe shortage of staff for treating mental patients, with one psychiatrist for every 61 mental patients, according to the study.

There are five specialized psychiatric hospitals in town, with an estimated 150,000 mental patients in need of medical help. About 20,000 of those are considered medium-to-high risk patients.

Kwai Tsing, Kwun Tong and Yuen Long are the three districts with the greatest numbers of high-risk cases.

In 2010, the Hospital Authority hired 90 psychiatrists to treat 5,000 high risk mental patients in the three districts. Patients considered at high risk should meet with their doctors weekly.

In Western countries, one psychiatrist usually deals with around 20 patients, according to the study.

China Daily

(HK Edition 05/20/2011 page1)