2015年CRI China Vows More Efforts to Address Mental Health Problems

The latest data from Chinese health authorities shows around 15-percent of the population in China, or as many as 200-million people in China, suffer from some form of mental health issues.

Of them, more than 4-million are believed to be suffering from severe mental disorders 1.

To try to meet the challenge, those suffering from medically-diagnosed severe mental disorders are recognized under the National Basic Health Care guidelines.

This gives them easier access to professional care and treatment.

But Wang Bin 2 with the National Health and Family Planning Commission says that group still needs more help.

"From the data we have, its clear that many of those diagnosed with severe mental disorders come from vulnerable groups in society. With a high poverty rate and a low level of education, many of them lack sufficient support from their families and society."

Beyond those with severe mental disorders, Chinese medical experts are also warning of a growing problem with depression in China.

Yu Xin with Peking University's Sixth Hospital says this is something the medical community in China simply can't cope with right now.

"It is a conservative estimate to say that around 40-million people in our country suffer from depression, but we only have 20-thousand doctors for them. Even if each doctor saw 100 patients a day, there still wouldn't be enough. So we need to deal with depression at a grassroots level, which will require better training and referral measures."

The psychologist also suggests depression should be something that can be diagonsed early.

"Preventive measures can be taken even during pregnancy 3. Mothers-to-be should always try to remain positive. Research has found mothers who suffer from depression can pass along psychological problems to their children. Research has noted 4 babies living separately from their mothers, as well as older children who are left-behind in rural areas are also prone 5 to depression."

Mental illness still remains 6 a cultural taboo 7 in China, with most still unwilling 8 to discuss their problems.

"Many people with mental health problems won't see a doctor until severe symptoms begin appearing. We see examples of this all the time. People who begin to exhibit symptoms of depression may not even notice it, or acknowledge it. This just makes treating it that much harder as time goes on."

Around one-third of the provinces in China have adopted specific policies to help people with mental illnesses.

Nation-wide plans are being worked on to establish links between the health care system and civil affairs agencies to create better access to mental health care across China.

For CRI, I'm Luo Wen.