3.9 Percent of Children and Adolescents in HK Have Thought of Suicide: CUHK Study

The Faculty of Medicine at CUHK released two surveys on the mental health of children, adolescents, and the elderly in Hong Kong on Nov. 29. It was found that 24.4 percent of children and adolescents suffered from at least one count of mental illness during the past year at the time of the interview. Nearly half of the caregivers are unwilling to seek professional assistance. Courtesy of CUHK

The students in Hong Kong are becoming increasingly susceptible to stress. A survey by the Faculty of Medicine of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) found that nearly a quarter of the children and adolescents surveyed had suffered from at least one count of mental illness in the past year, such as anxiety and depression; 3.9 percent had thought of suicide, and the situation was especially serious among secondary school students. The CUHK research team described the problem of suicide ideation among schoolchildren as just “the tip of the iceberg” and urged society to take more preventive actions to alleviate it.

The Faculty of Medicine of the CUHK released two surveys on Nov. 29, revealing the general mental health status of Hong Kong school children and adolescents aged six to 17, as well as elders aged 60 or above. The surveys were conducted between 2019 and 2023. A total of 6,082 school-age children and adolescents aged six to 17 participated in the former, including non-ethnic Chinese youngsters.