How Hong Kong can tackle its growing mental health crisis

By Hugo Novales, FCC In-House Journalist

Mental health has become an increasingly important issue in Hong Kong. According to Mind HK, a local mental health charity, an estimated 1 in 7 people in the city will experience a common mental health disorder at any given time. Three-quarters of these individuals will not seek help.

Younger people in the city are more vulnerable with 24% of them facing mental health issues and the suicide rate for 15 to 24-year-olds doubling in the past decade.

Last month, the FCC held a Club Lunch panel consisting of three mental health experts who shared their views on how Hong Kong can tackle its growing mental health crisis.

Sitting on the panel was Dr. Scarlett Matolli, a clinical psychologist; Brenda Scofield, a certified counselor and board member for The Samaritans Hong Kong; and Dr. Paul Wong, an Associate Professor from the Department of Social Work and Social Administration at HKU. Moderating the discussion was FCC Charity Committee Member Jenny Hsieh.

First, each speaker gave their own definition of what mental health means to them.

“Mental health is misunderstood as something that you have separate from your physical health… it’s only in the absence of it that people can recognize the presence of it,” said Dr. Matolli when explaining how both mental and physical health are intertwined.

Scofield, on the other hand, offered an alternative phrase to mental health.

“If we called it ‘emotional health’, wouldn’t that be easier for some people?” she asked the audience. “Emotionally, you just can’t live your life the way you would like to at the moment.”

Also offering an alternative and broader definition of mental health, Dr. Wong explained how he believes good mental health shouldn’t just be the absence of any psychological disorders.

“A person’s mental wellbeing should be about finding purpose in life, reason for living,” he said.

Dr. Wong also talked about the changes he’s witnessed in Hong Kong’s approach to mental health since returning to the city in 2003 from Australia where he studied clinical psychology at Bond University.

Back then, there weren’t as many hotlines and services as there are in 2025, which he said reflects the city’s growing discussion on mental health. Despite this, he suggests that even more needs to happen in order to diminish the mental health challenges that Hong Kong faces.

“The field has changed, but still, we have to talk more about [mental health], make it more normal and common as a daily talk,” he said.

Just two years after Dr. Wong returned to Hong Kong, Dr. Matolli also arrived with her family. Her interest in mental health began when she kept getting referred to the public hospital system when seeking help for her own children. Finding that there weren’t very few services in English, she decided to form her own consultancy program targeted towards other expat families living in Hong Kong who also wanted mental health services.

There is now a much wider variety of mental health services that Hong Kong residents can choose from, yet similar to the other panellists, Dr. Matolli believes more can still be done.

“We can’t really rest yet, but we can sit more easily,” Dr. Matolli said.

As a board member for The Samaritans, one of the FCC’s partner charities, Scofield also clarified that their services are not just for people who are having any suicidal feelings, but for anyone going through a tough time who simply wants to be listened to.

“We are here for anyone who is having difficulties, for anyone who is in that dark place and they don’t know what to do about it,” she said.

The panel also discussed the barriers that may prevent someone from seeking mental health services, as well as men’s mental health and how shared backgrounds in support groups may help newcomers seeking help for the first time.

If you are in need of mental health support, you can call:

The Samaritans: 2896 0000

Suicide Prevention Centre: 2382 0000

The Mental Health Support Hotline: 18111

This year, the FCC is partnering with nine hand-chosen charities to give back. Members are encouraged to join our “One Day’s Work” programme. From September 2024 to September 2025, members of the FCC can pledge to donate one day’s work (8 hours) to volunteer with a charity of their choice.

For more information about the FCC’s Charity Committee: https://www.fcchk.org/charity-stage-2/

To watch the full discussion, please visit the FCC’s YouTube channel: