{"id":16494,"date":"2020-04-07T13:44:44","date_gmt":"2020-04-07T05:44:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/?p=16494"},"modified":"2021-06-23T15:45:56","modified_gmt":"2021-06-23T07:45:56","slug":"broken-hearts-of-the-city","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/2020\/04\/broken-hearts-of-the-city\/","title":{"rendered":"Broken Hearts of the City"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Soweon Park & Kassandra Lai<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On\nNovember 17, 2019, more than 1,000 radical \u00adprotesters and their supporters\noccupied the Hong Kong Polytechnic\nUniversity (PolyU) campus and engaged in fierce clashes\nwith the police, sparking off violent exchanges of petrol bombs and tear\ngas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Volunteer first aider, Sam,\nwho declines to reveal his full name, was one of those barricaded inside the\nPolyU during the confrontations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trapped inside the campus, the 20-year-old says what he witnessed and experienced there was just traumatic. \u201cThe police locked down the campus, manning every exit, and leaving many young protesters on the brink of mental breakdown. You just never know when the police would stage a raid. At that moment, I thought we were once promising young people, but we might lose everything the next second,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Days after his\nescape, he was still gripped by fear that\nhe would be accosted by police. The paranoid thoughts still keep clouding his\nmind. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEvery time I take a\nminibus to Mongkok, passing by Block Z of the campus, my hands and body shake\ninvoluntarily. I try to avoid talking about the PolyU incident. But whenever I\ncome across news about it, I get very emotional,\u201d he says. \u201cSometimes tears just\nkeep streaming down my cheeks uncontrollably.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sam has been\ndiagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), an anxiety disorder which\ndevelops after experiencing an exceptionally threatening or a catastrophic\nevent, such as getting into a serious accident, witnessing violent deaths of\nothers, or being a victim of a violent crime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mental Health\ncrisis <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to an article\nin volume six, issue 12 of The Lancet<\/em>, a medical journal published by\nthe University of Hong Kong academics, more\nthan two million Hong Kong adults have shown the symptoms of post-traumatic\nstress disorder during the ongoing political unrest in the city. Sam is one of\nthose. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Questionnaires were sent\nto more than 18,000 residents aged 18 or above between 2009 and 2019. The\nresult suggested that the prevalence of probable depression is five times\nhigher during the 2019 social unrest than the 2014 Occupy Central Movement.\nPost-traumatic stress disorder symptoms were also estimated to be six times\nhigher, with 1.9 million more adults compared to 10 years ago. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Hong Kong College of\nPsychiatrists also conducted a mental health survey on various groups of\npeople, including journalists, property management staff, teachers, social\nworkers, and the general public between October and December 2019. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

About 90 per cent of respondents from the survey reported that the social movement had affected them psychologically. Journalists and property management staff were found to be especially vulnerable to trauma exposure during the social unrest. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
 Dr. May Lam (photo courtesy)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

 \u201cWe refer to trauma exposures as one or more\nof the following: directly experiencing trauma, witnessing trauma, learning\nthat a traumatic event occurred to a close family member or friend, or\nextreme\/repeated exposure to aversive details of traumatic events due to the\nneeds of your work,\u201d explains Dr. May Lam, Vice-President (Censor\/Education) of\nthe Hong Kong College of Psychiatrists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThose who have direct\ninvolvement in the social turmoil due to occupational needs are more prone to\ndeveloping depressive and anxiety symptoms than other groups of people,\u201d Lam\nadds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The survey also shows\nthat about 50 per cent of the respondents experienced feelings of helplessness\nand hopelessness. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wendi Fu, a 20-year-old business\nmajor student of the Lingnan University, is one of those who suffers from\nmental problems. She does not seek help from doctors and medical treatment, but\nshe does suffer from anxiety due to arguments and family conflicts over the\nrecent protests. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\nfeel very pressured and anxious when I am with my family, as we have different\npolitical stances. It is very hard to avoid the topic in our daily\nconversation. My parents kept bad-mouthing protestors at dinner and this gave\nme a hard time. So, I chose to live in school dorm, instead of going back home\nmost of the times, to avoid conflicts,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In light of the current situation of Hong Kong, Fu is pessimistic about the future of the city. She has been thinking about moving to other countries since 2014 and her determination got stronger this year due to the fears against the Communist Party of China. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don’t see any hope in\nthe future. It is upsetting to see Hongkongers don\u2019t get what they deserve or\nwhat they should have had – justice and freedom,\u201d Fu says. \u201cOur freedom of\nspeech and our independent legal system are all being threatened since the 2014\nUmbrella Movement,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Care4ALL programme <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pokky Choi, director and education psychologist of Edge Development Centre, explains that the protests are tearing families apart. \u201cThe differences in values and views could develop into doubts regarding each other\u2019s personality and moral standards, and thus breeds mistrust and criticisms,\u201d he adds. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Civil society in Hong Kong has been quick to respond to fears of the mental health crisis, with many launching targeted campaigns and psychological counselling services to the public. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Edge Development Centre set up a free hotline in June 2019, to provide counselling service by voluntary educational psychologists to the needy, during the social unrest. Currently the centre has about five educational psychologists on voluntary basis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While programmes and services are being offered to curb rising mental health problems, it is likely that some are still some suffering in silence. Some may not recognise their problems or may not be willing to seek help. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMany protestors prefer\nnot to talk about their experience. They are not worried about being labelled,\nbut they are afraid of whistleblowers. You never know whether they are friends\nor foes,\u201d Sam, the volunteer first aider says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Echoing what he said, Lam, Vice-President (Censor\/Education) of the Hong Kong College of Psychiatrists, states that the hardest part is getting those who need help to come forward and receive service they offer. \u201cOnce participants come to us, things are actually very easy.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Poster of\u300cCare4ALL\u9999\u6e2f\u7cbe\u795e – \u540c\u821f\u5171\u884c\u8a08\u5283\u300d<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

In hopes of helping more\nwho are reluctant to seek help, the Hong Kong College of Psychiatrists launched\na volunteering programme named \u300cCare4ALL\u9999\u6e2f\u7cbe\u795e – \u540c\u821f\u5171\u884c\u8a08\u5283\u300din August 2019. It is targeted at people who are mentally disturbed by the recent social unrest. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The programme is\ndesigned to be easily accessible and approachable. The college tries to offer a\ncomprehensive and volunteer-based community\nmodel to achieve early intervention and remission. Patients are also encouraged\nto voice out their worries and concerns before their consultation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is run by\nvolunteering psychiatrists and social workers. \u201cWe offer a maximum of eight\nfree psychiatric consultations and a medication subsidy of up to HKD$6,000,\u201d Lam\nsays. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How can people help\nthemselves?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Hong Kong College of Psychiatrists has also shared tips for maintaining mental well-being with the public. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Ways to cope with negative emotions<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

One of the tips is to find activities to do or be with families to take everyone\u2019s minds off the troubles. It is also important to get unplugged from the internet and let emotions run free instead of suppressing them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe believe that high levels of exposure to trauma through social media is worrisome, and we would advise those with PTSD symptoms to refrain from excessive social-media exposure to traumatic events,\u201d Lam advises. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite all the self-help tips, Lam repeatedly emphasises the importance of finding the right person to talk to. \u201cThe best way is to seek professional help as soon as possible, especially when the symptoms are recurring and intrusive,\u201d she says.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

*If you are feeling depressed or suffering from symptoms of PTSD, you can call the Social Welfare Department hotline service (2343 2255) or Care4ALL\u9999\u6e2f\u7cbe\u795e – \u540c\u821f\u5171\u884c\u8a08\u5283 (6020 2493) to get consultation and help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Edited by Kayi Tsang
Sub-edited by Soohyun Kim<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The prolonged anti-extradition bill movement has affected HongKonger\u2019s mental health.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":16614,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1801,7],"tags":[1424,1425,1422,1405],"class_list":["post-16494","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-issue-155","category-periscope","tag-mentalhealth","tag-ptsd","tag-socialmovements","tag-protests"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16494","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16494"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16494\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16943,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16494\/revisions\/16943"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16614"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16494"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16494"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16494"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}