Opinion | Hong Kong needs a Selena Gomez for mental health awareness – there’s still far too much stigma attached to issues here
- Like other disabilities, mental health issues are seen as payment for sins in past lives by many in Chinese culture who believe in the concept of reincarnation
- A survey by charity Mind HK found that one in three people would be prepared to break off friendships with those diagnosed with mental illness
We all keep secrets. The reasons are often embarrassment or shame, but hardly ever pride. In high school, Peony (not her real name) carried such a burden.
My friend’s home was a mystery. We knew where she lived but nobody set foot in her house. Years later, we found out why: her brother had schizophrenia and, being prone to violent outbursts, was kept at home.
His isolation, while seemingly cruel, can be tied to anachronistic beliefs rather than malevolent intent. First, in Chinese culture, to institutionalise anyone, even grandparents in nursing homes, is seen as abandonment.
While senior living is an US$87.4 billion industry in the United States, in Hong Kong, most elderly people are independent or live with their family; they only go to a nursing home if they need round-the-clock care that their relatives cannot provide.
A second reason is the Buddhist or Taoist concept of reincarnation, which is ingrained in Chinese culture and has it that we are paying for the sins of our past lives in this one. Disabilities and mental health issues come under this heading – the result of bad karma in this life or the last – and are a crippling source of shame.