China ill equipped to treat mental health problems

Most Chinese who suffer from depression do not get proper treatment due to a lack of psychiatrists and public prejudice, state press reported Friday, citing the country's mental health professionals.

China has just 17,000 registered psychiatrists for its 30 million depression patients, only one-10th of the ratio in Western countries, the China Daily newspaper reported, citing figures from an industry meeting here.

The imbalance means 90 percent of people in China with depression do not get adequate treatment, according to health experts at the meeting.
"There are just too few doctors available," Hao Wei, vice-director of the Chinese Psychiatrists Association, was quoted as saying.

Moreover, public prejudice against mental diseases also deterred sufferers from consulting psychiatrists, with women and people in rural areas the most affected.

Many patients were reluctant to look for professional care and visited physicians instead on fear of prejudice, Hao said.

The economic cost of depression to China, in medical bills and lost employment opportunities, is nearly eight billion dollars a year, according to experts at the conference.