An annual survey released on Monday revealed that mental health of Hong Kong residents had reached its worst level in the past seven years as half almost at below passing mark. The survey is a part of a government-led campaign, aiming to public awareness of mental health.
As per the South China Morning Post, although poor sentiment and work stress somewhat attributed to the outcome, researchers think their past surveys underestimate the situation as it was conveyed at daytime hours when the majority of the people should be at work.
In the survey this year, 1,007 participants involved - aged at least 15. The poll, conducted from June 12 to 29, was a phone interview placed in the evening. Using the WHO (Five) Well-Being Index, the respondents were asked how they felt in state of good spirit and being cheerful over the past fortnight - with ratings including "at no time," "all of the time," "my daily life has been filled with things that interest me," and "I have felt calm and relaxed."
If the score is 100, that's considered to be the best possible quality of life, and the score of 52 is the passing mark. This year, the average score of the participants was 50.2, dropped from 59.75 in 2017. Researchers said this was by far the worst result since 2012 (56.25), and the first time the average was below the passing mark.
The current methodology of reaching out the participants during the night might have impacted the decline in the score, said Dr. Ivan Mak Wing-chit, the research convener. But, he added that mental health of Hongkongers has not improved, and might have been worsened over the past years. He believed that society's political tension should be partially blamed due to social hostility.
About 48 percent scored below 52 in this survey, while 38 percent notched between 52 and 68 - meaning their mental health was still at "acceptable level." Meanwhile, 14.1 percent scored 72 or above, which means they are experiencing good mental health.
Overall, those who have family and children, married, and older had better mental health. Those who are at the age between 25 and 34 had been recorded to have the worst mental health, with 46.49 scores. Meanwhile, those who are working at managerial level had better mental well-being compared to frontline staff or working in manual labor - with 52.81 and 43.33 scores respectively.
Lastly, 49 percent of participants with full-time jobs had a 9.14 average number of working hours each day, while about 18.4 percent said they are working more than 10 hours regularly.
