Epidemic, social unrest worsens mental health in HK

More than half of Hong Kong residents do not meet a global standard for their mental health status, a rehabilitation group has found in a survey.

The “2020 Mental Health Month” organizing committee of the Psychiatric Rehabilitation Association, commissioned the Chinese University of Hong Kong to carry out a study from June to July this year. The study interviewed 1,002 people aged 15 years or above.

The study adopted the WHO Well-Being Index, with a range of between 0 and 100, and 52 as the passing score. An acceptable mental health level is between 52 and 68, while a level above 72 shows a good status.

The average score for the local mental health index is 45.12, below the passing score of 52. The score was 46.41 last year.

Forty percent of the interviewees said they have faced traumatic experiences due to social disputes and the ongoing coronavirus epidemic.

Social issues had the most impact on 15 to 34-year-olds.

The study found that the social unrest has quite an impact on mental health, along with being forced to stay at home during the epidemic, worsening their negative emotions.