Urbanization and psychiatric disorders - the Hong Kong scene

Abstract

Indices were used to portray the rapidity and intensity of urbanization Hong Kong had undergone in the past 2-3 decades. Next the preliminary result of a psychiatric survey was quoted as an estimate of mental ill-health in Hong Kong. Data were obtained from the Mental Health Service to show the increasing demand for psychiatric care for the past 25 years. Attempts were made to analyze the basic composition of the new patients attending a psychiatric centre during this period. High density living associated with urbanization in Hong Kong was found to generate a high level of emotional strain, and psychiatric ill-health was as prevalent as that in New York. Neuroses were on the increase and psychiatrists were being consulted on a wider variety of problems. Provision of mental health care in future should take the changes in the composition of psychiatric populations into consideration.