First ever community mental health care centre opens in China

As a Kai Xin Xing Dong (Chinese Like Minds Programme) project worker, and coming from mainland China, I take a keen interest in what happens in China’s mental health service.

The first community mental health care centre started this year in Beijing. Community mental health centres play an important role between hospital and home, and a mental health system that links all three levels throughout the whole country gives people with experience of mental illness the best support in recovery.

The opening of this first centre is a very encouraging sign, but China’s mental health service still has plenty of room for improvement.

50% of China’s population knows nothing about mental health

Statistics released in early 2009 show there are over one hundred million people with mental health issues in China, and among them over 16 million people have experienced serious mental illness.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), suicide in China accounts for about a quarter of suicides worldwide, and our work tells us that undiagnosed and untreated depression is still the biggest risk factor for suicide. Yet more than 50% of China’s population knows nothing about mental health, and even fewer understand how to access the mental health services.
 
In China it is believed that people with experience of mental illness become ‘crazy’ or ‘foolish’ and they will never recover. Some people still think that people with experience of mental illness cause big safety issues. The recent spate of violent attacks in Chinese schools, which left dozens of children dead or injured, was attributed, by many, to mental illness.

China needs mental health act

These beliefs reflect the discriminatory attitude towards people with experience of mental illness in mainland China. Yet people can and do make a full recovery and this is why China needs a mental health act.

Mental health legislation was first drafted in China in the 1980s, with the aim to provide legal protection and subsidized health care to those with experience of mental illness. If passed, the legislation would give patients without family support access to free shelter and treatment provided by the government.

However, this would require a large amount of funds and, so far, only a few prosperous provinces and cities, such as Beijing and Shanghai, have drafted regional regulations on mental health, leaving patients to depend largely on families for both financial and psychological help.

For now, we have to take heart that the first community mental health centre has opened and hope it will be the first step towards improving China’s services for people with experience of mental health issues.

Charlie (Sheng) Tang, Mental Health Promoter, Like Minds