Mental health stigmas stop treatment, scholars say

Stigmas over mental health stop people from seeking out help, said scholars at a global conference on mental health in Hong Kong yesterday.

Breaking stigmas is important for getting better social support and professional engagement, said Paul Wong Wai-Ching, a professor of social work and social administration at the University of Hong Kong and one of thirteen scholars speaking at the National Counselling and Psychotherapy Conference Hong Kong 2025.

“The main issue is that people don’t come to counselling or therapy,” said Kenneth Law, a social worker from the Zubin Foundation, a local charity that works with ethnic minorities. “Either they are afraid or don’t know how to.”

Hong Kong fell at 88 out of 147 in Oxford University’s World Happiness Report this year, its lowest-ever position.

Around a quarter of Hong Kong children suffer from mental disorders and a quarter of people aged 15 to 24 show suicidal behavior, according to surveys by the Chinese University of Hong Kong and the University of Hong Kong in 2023.

“I got inspired on what to do in my field,” said Cathy Wu Jiaxu, a student at Hong Kong Baptist University who attended the conference.

“This conference provided me an opportunity to be updated and prepared,” said Caroline Shaw, a wedding planner for more than two decades who changed careers and is studying to be couples counselor.

Other talks included female menstrual mentality from Vanessa Wong; athletic performance from Karen Lo Eugene-chuang; narcissistic relationships from Armani Durvasula and teenage digital usage from Nicolson Siu Yat-fan, Evgeny Evseev and Kimberly Carder; suicide bereavement by Paul Wong Wai-Ching. 

The conference will move to Malaysia and then the Philippines in October and November.