Hopes gone and faith lost with psychiatrist to patient ratio at 1:761, say two top docs

In Hong Kong, one psychiatrist has to face 761 mental illness patients, and each therapy session for a psychosis patient lasts for 5.6 minutes on average only, said two top psychology doctors as they shed light on the city’s support to citizens’ mental wellness following recent deadly incidents.

Last Friday, a 39-year-old man, who suffered from paranoid schizophrenia, bought a 12-inch-long knife and stabbed two women aged 26 and 22 to death in Plaza Hollywood, Diamond Hill. 

On Monday, a 29-year-old Indian mother admitted suffocating her three young daughters in a subdivided flat on Kweilin Street in Sham Shui Po, after reporting to police that the girls were knifed by the father. Police later said she has no history of mental illness. 

Speaking on a radio program on Tuesday, Eric Chen Yu-hai, chair professor in psychiatry at the University of Hong Kong, said although Hong Kong has not seen fatal incidents involving mental illness patients for a long time, a tiny number of these cases occur about every ten years. 

Chen said he understood that citizens would panic after these incidents occurred but stressed that labeling mental illness patients would only backfire as patients would be more unwilling to seek help and medical attention. 

As for yesterday’s Sham Shui Po tragedy, Chen said although the suspect has no history of mental illness, that doesn’t mean she doesn't have any mental illness issues at all. It also rang a bell as to if mentally unhealthy citizens are facing any difficulties when seeking help. 

Linda Lam Chiu-wa, clinical professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, also said it was tough to imagine that the Indian mother suffocated her children while she was in a rational state. 

This reflected citizens with mental or emotional issues don’t know how to seek help or are unwilling to do so, Lam continued, describing this incident as the “tip of an iceberg.” 

Lam added the Hospital Authority has only 385 psychiatrists and with over 290,000 mental illness patients in the city, that means the ratio of doctor to patient stands at 1:761. The number only reaches some 500 after taking in private psychiatry doctors. 

Chen also referred to previous studies that a one-on-one therapy session for a psychosis patient lasts for 5.6 minutes on average. And it is impossible for the psychiatrist to truly understand patients’ needs or notice any signs of committing suicide. 

Patients have lost their faith in the healthcare system and even the psychiatrists would fall victim under the current system, Chen noted. 

Chen pointed out that the Advisory Committee on Mental Health will convene a meeting this Friday for discussions on handling of society labeling mental illness patients and reviewing the current health system and manpower arrangements. Yet, he said the committee is only an advisory body without any administrative powers.