Two job seekers take a rest during a career fair in Zhengzhou, in China’s Henan province in 2020. Photo by Wang Zhao/AFP
By Radio Free Asia
Jul 18 2023
It has also focused attention once more on mental health in China, public awareness of which has burgeoned since the turn of the century, albeit amid an ongoing struggle to meet the demand for psychological and psychiatric services.
Many in the country are at risk of depression especially young adults, according to a recent survey.
Yet China currently has just under two psychiatrists per 100,000 head of population, compared with a developed world average of just over nine, according to the World Health Organization, while a 2021 study by Beijing-based researchers published in The Lancet found that just 9.5% of patients with depression in China receive medical treatment.
Faced with a weakening economy after three years of stringent pandemic restrictions, skyrocketing unemployment, and life under a high-tech authoritarian regime, China’s 18-24 year-olds were found to have a 24.1% risk of depression in a government mental health survey completed last year, compared with an overall risk of 10.6% for adults generally.
Standardized testing carried out by government researchers for the 2021-2022 China National Mental Health Survey also showed a similar rise in reported symptoms of anxiety in the same age group.
But as many who follow Lee’s tragic story are aware, depression and other mental health problems manifest differently in everyone.
Read full text in LiCAS.news.
