Mental health has been in sharp decline in Hong Kong in recent years, and the situation is especially stark for the young and the elderly. It is a crisis with wide-ranging implications for the well-being of individuals and society, and it takes the right approach and collective effort for the issue to be significantly eased.
Building a mentally healthy community together
Hong Kong is in the grip of a mental health crisis. Socio-economic pressures and the lingering ripple effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, among other factors, are fuelling a surge in cases of depression, anxiety and other related illnesses.
Statistics are both challenging and alarming. One in six people in the city will experience a common mental disorder in their lifetime. While the crisis affects all generations, the young and the elderly are most at risk. According to surveys, 8% of secondary school students have contemplated taking their own lives; around 25% of children and adolescents have mental health issues; 8.6% of older adults living at home have depression and/or anxiety disorders. Meanwhile, a surge of incidents involving people suffering from various degrees of mental conditions, as well as suicides among primary and secondary pupils, have brought a renewed focus and prompted discussions on mental health in Hong Kong. Suicide rate among 15 to 24-year-olds reached its historical high in 2022, whereby around 12 per 100,000 youth died by suicide.
Responding to this urgent need of the community, The Hong Kong Jockey Club is committed to a variety of community-based initiatives in both online and offline formats to support and improve mental wellbeing for individuals including young and elderly people. Hundreds of thousands of people have benefitted from these projects. These initiatives demonstrate collaborative effort among the Club, the government, NGOs, social service units, schools and academia.
Statistics are both challenging and alarming. One in six people in the city will experience a common mental disorder in their lifetime. While the crisis affects all generations, the young and the elderly are most at risk. According to surveys, 8% of secondary school students have contemplated taking their own lives; around 25% of children and adolescents have mental health issues; 8.6% of older adults living at home have depression and/or anxiety disorders. Meanwhile, a surge of incidents involving people suffering from various degrees of mental conditions, as well as suicides among primary and secondary pupils, have brought a renewed focus and prompted discussions on mental health in Hong Kong. Suicide rate among 15 to 24-year-olds reached its historical high in 2022, whereby around 12 per 100,000 youth died by suicide.
Responding to this urgent need of the community, The Hong Kong Jockey Club is committed to a variety of community-based initiatives in both online and offline formats to support and improve mental wellbeing for individuals including young and elderly people. Hundreds of thousands of people have benefitted from these projects. These initiatives demonstrate collaborative effort among the Club, the government, NGOs, social service units, schools and academia.
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Jockey Club “Love & Respect” School Empowerment Programme
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