In traditional Chinese societies including Hong Kong, persons diagnosed with mental illnesses would invariably be labeled "axe-wielding crazy people". Such an entrenched stigma has discouraged many people with mental sicknesses from confronting their conditions and seeking proper treatment.

It is time we needed a sea change in people's perception of mild and serious mental sicknesses. The government is well-advised to spend some money to mount an awareness-raising campaign to educate citizens that mental illnesses are as common as flu. I would also be extremely happy to see some foundations, funded by Hong Kong tycoons, to engage in related education campaigns.

A survey on June 16 by a Hong Kong-based concern group Emotion Alliance found that 32 percent of 303 patients interviewed in private clinics suffer from different levels of mood disorders and 70 percent of them are women. This 32 percent level is alarming indeed, which serves as a carrion call for immediate action.

Mood disorders might cause headaches, extreme tiredness and a fast heartbeat. Some of the symptoms cannot be clinically explained. Hence, patients are urged to consult experts such as psychiatrists. The government should cut the waiting time for people to see government psychiatrists. Meanwhile, it should no longer delay in funding more public educational campaigns to change people's perception that consulting a psychiatrist means the person is "crazy" or "delusional".

If not treated, mood disorders could develop into anxiety disorder, depression or manic-depression or something worse such as schizophrenia and psychosis. I am not trying to scaremonger Hong Kong people but just hope that the government, medical groups and citizens be made aware of the needs of people suffering from mood disorders to seek treatment from the right physicians.

A recent attempted (and alleged) suicide case vividly illustrates the horror of mood disorders if patients are not treated well. On June 12, a mother and her 11-year-old daughter were in intensive care after they apparently jumped off a footbridge in the Tsuen Wan district. Witnesses told police they saw the pair leap from the 10-meter-high bridge on Sai Lau Kok Road near a public library.

The mother, whose injuries included fractures to bones in her feet, was in critical condition in Princess Margaret Hospital, Kwai Chung, while the daughter had a fractured hand. The woman, who recently divorced her husband, was said by her neighbor to be emotionally unstable.

A member of Emotion Alliance warned that "when patients are troubled by mood disorders, the brain may have defects in receiving, analyzing and sending messages, and it would affect the functions of other organs."

There are many places in Hong Kong where people suspected of having mental problems can seek help. The Hospital Authority and the Mental Health Association of Hong Kong maintain 24-hour hotlines for people who need help with mental health problems (telephone: 24667350 or website: www.ha.org.hk). A number of other government departments and non-governmental organizations also offer enquiry hotlines and mental-health services targeted at different groups, including men, women, young people and children.

Mood disorders could lead to early psychosis, which is an abnormal mental state. The thoughts and feelings of people with early psychosis are often out of touch with reality. Other common features include confused thoughts, delusions and hallucinations. Although people of all ages can develop symptoms of early psychosis, the high-risk group is young people aged 15 to 25.

To help young people face mental issues, Mindset, a charity organization that promotes education on mental illnesses, will use funds raised on Oct 20 in an event called "Central Rat Race".

Young people are our city's future leaders. If young people with mood disorders or early psychosis can be detected and treated at an early stage, the chances of mild ailments developing into various mental diseases can be greatly reduced. A telephone hotline (29283283) on early psychosis has been set up for public enquiries. Use them please if you suffer from similar symptoms.

Above all, public education to change people's perception is deemed the most crucial factor in fighting mental-illness diseases.

The author is coordinator of the B.S.Sc in financial journalism program at Hong Kong Baptist University.

(HK Edition 06/22/2013 page6)