Mental healthcare emerges from the shadows

More outpatients

"The hospital beds are not enough and we added more," said Yang Fude, Huilongguan's president. "There are so many patients who need to be treated that the public health sector has to make rules asking us to shorten the time that patients stay in the hospital."

He said the hospital has 180 doctors and more than 1,400 inpatients. Outpatient visits have increased 20 percent a year in the past five years. At the depression clinic, appointments must be made three months in advance.

Yang said the hospital can't afford many more psychiatrists. The government determines how many a hospital needs and pays for them, but any additional medical staff must be paid by the hospital.

"The enrollment figure (for doctors) given to our hospital hasn't changed since 1993. However, the number of patients is climbing fast," Yang said.

Twenty years ago, he said, the hospital operated at 80 percent of capacity and doctors were required to record their patients' mental condition once every month or two. "But now, it should be recorded every three days," Yang said.

An Jing (left) learns to dance from Zhao Yiwen at Jingxinyuan rehabilitation therapy center in Beijing. The community-based center, unique in having psychiatrists participate, helps patients cross the bridge from hospitalization to society. Zou Hong / China Daily