Hong Kong Undertakes First Mental Health Survey in Wake of Violent Cases

In July, a mentally ill woman decapitated(杀头，斩首) her mother before ____1____ (自杀) by jumping out of her apartment window. In June, a teenage boy stabbed(刺中) his mother and sister to death. A month before that, a man with history of mental illness stabbed his neighbors, killing two people.

These shocking ____2____ (事故，暴力事件) in low-crime Hong Kong have prompted ____3____ (紧急呼叫) for greater help for people with mental illnesses. Health-care experts ____4____ (强调) that very few people with mental health problems are dangerous. But there are worries that there may be more hidden cases of severe mental illness in the ____5____ (公众) that could lead to similar tragedies.

Hong Kong's public hospitals treated about 16,000 psychiatric(精神病学的) patients between 2008 and 2009, slightly lower than the ____6____ (先前的) year. But demand for out-patient services(门诊病人服务) has risen since 2003, with 137,000 patients treated by 2007. There are worries that these cases are just the tip of the iceberg(冰山一角).

This is because as in many parts of Asia, mental illness carries a social stigma(耻辱的标记) in Hong Kong. Linda Lam, a psychiatry(精神病学) professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, says that while people's attitudes have changed over the past ____7____ (十年), there is still ____8____ (不愿意) to acknowledge(承认) serious mental problems.

"People are more willing to talk about having mood disorders(情感障碍), panic(慌乱) disorders, depression, anxiety, but it is very difficult for a family member to admit that they have more serious mental illness, such as psychosis(精神错乱) or schizophrenia(精神分裂)."

In November, Lam and colleagues will start Hong Kong's first mental health survey, interviewing at least one member of nearly 6,000 households(一家人) to get a sense of the ____9____ (流行) and causes of mental problems in this city of 7 million.

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