University calls for promotion of mental health services

A recently published survey has found that 11.5% and 6.3% of residents have experienced moderate to severe symptoms of depression and anxiety, respectively, during the later stage of the epidemic last year.
Conducted by the University of Macau (UM), the survey was conducted online between August and November 2020. The survey used self-administered assessment tools commonly used in epidemiological surveys on mental health problems, investigating symptoms of depression, anxiety, insomnia, and fatigue.
In the end, a total of 1,005 residents completed the assessment.
According to the results, 58% of the participants were concerned about Covid-19 related news, and 75.3% self-identified as strictly enforcing personal precautions.
Additionally, 70.1% reported that the epidemic had a moderate to severe impact on their daily lives, and 7.7% experienced great financial loss.
During the later stages of the pandemic, 26.4% reported experiencing moderate to severe fatigue, and 6.4% were experiencing moderate to severe symptoms of insomnia.
Several surveys on the prevalence of mental health conditions among Macau residents have recently been issued.
A similar survey was conducted by the The General Union of Neighborhood Association of Macao. The majority of respondents were students, and close to 26% of them had considered ending their lives in the past three months.
Late last month, a student who fell from a building garnered the attention of the Education and Youth Development Bureau (DSEDJ), which announced the government’s establishment of a taskforce involving several government bureaus, two education associations and Caritas Macau’s Life Hope Hotline, in the hopes of protecting vulnerable members of the society.
Meanwhile, the researchers from UM found, using multivariate analyses, that the participants who were not concerned about news regarding the pandemic, had suffered great financial losses because of the pandemic, those who were single, and those felt that the pandemic had a great impact on their daily lives were more likely to suffer from symptoms of depression, anxiety or insomnia.
The study has also found that most of those who were experiencing symptoms were not inclined to seek help from mental health services. Only 27.6% to 39.1% of the participants said they had tried to seek support using hotlines, the internet, medical institutions, or other services.
Studies conducted by the Fuhong Society of Macau and UM last year showed that Chinese culture’s high regard for “saving face” contributes to why people are hesitant to seek help. The Macau SAR has not yet overcome the stigma of mental illness, which has discouraged people with mental health concerns from seeking help.
These individuals are afraid that they will be seen as weak and fragile, and as having a hard time overcoming what they perceive as a shameful matter.
In a statement regarding the recently-released survey results, the UM team concluded that the overall mental health status of those surveyed was stable during the later stage of the epidemic.
The statement urged residents to seek professional treatment in a timely fashion when they experience mental health problems. In addition, relevant service providers should receive professional training as soon as possible, in order to identify mental health problems during the early stages and provide appropriate assistance.
The UM team also called for more publicity and promotion of mental health services, and the promotion of knowledge related to mental health maintenance, psychological counselling, and crisis intervention.
These are part of a bid to minimise the negative impacts of the pandemic on people’s mental health.