I’ve spent most of my career as a researcher on mental health, and right now I work for an organization designed to create mentally healthy workplaces. But I’ve been thinking a lot recently about why mental health is so important to me. Was there an event or a particular person that needed help? I initially struggled to articulate it because there wasn’t one. There were many friends, acquaintances, loved ones who struggled with mental health problems self-harm, depression, anxiety, psychosis, substance misuse, and alcohol misuse and they struggled for their own reasons, and it varied throughout their life. And I hope that I supported each one of them by listening, being there, or providing practical support. But it wasn’t until I was older that I realized why they struggled because they didn’t know what they were struggling with or how to get help and support, or they feared stigma. But that doesn’t have to be the case.
So today, what I would like to talk to you about is how you can show up for the mental health of your community. Having good mental health for everyone is essential to the functioning of our societies. Now, the World Health Organization backs me up here. It’s about engaging and living productively in your community and coping with the stresses of normal life. In short, there is no health without mental health, and we are failing ourselves and our communities if we do not look after it.
So when you think of a mental health problem, you might think that it’s something that affects selected individuals. But in reality, it’s not something that affects particular people globally. One in four of us will have a mental health problem in our lifetime. Now, if the world were this room, that’s probably half of you in this section of the room over here. And if it’s not you, then it will be someone you know someone in your family, maybe your colleague, maybe someone in your sports team, or your children’s school friends. And the consequences of mental health problems that are untreated can be dire for the individual and the communit substance misuse, it can lead to poor physical health, financial problems, a whole host of difficulties.
Hong Kong is an awesome place. I love it here, but it is a very pressured place to live. We have, according to UBS, on average the longest working hours in the world 50.1 hours a week on average. Now, that leaves very little time for friends and family and interests outside of work. It’s also one of the most expensive and crowded places on earth. That leaves many of us struggling for space and struggling to support our families. And these are all related to our mental health. And recent evidence suggests that actually it’s getting worse, and that we are failing to meet even the most basic quality of life standards in Hong Kong. And yet, only 26 percent of people with a mental health issue seek help.
So that might be half of you in this corner of the room over here. And that’s despite the fact that 70 percent of people with mental health problems can recover with treatment. Now, the reasons that people don’t seek help are complex. It’s related to factors around culture and stigmatization. But the fact remains that we have a chronic lack of access and support in Hong Kong. Workplaces don’t offer enough support according to the evidence. There are less than 400 psychiatrists in Hong Kong. That’s less than half the amount recommended by the World Health Organization for our population size. Now, you compare that to the 2,500 dentists that we have in our city, and waiting lists to see a psychiatrist can be up to three years in some cases.
Men and women will struggle with mental health problems, but evidence globally suggests that women are more likely to struggle with anxiety and depression. It’s related to simple biology, hormonal factors, the way we process information, and things like taking on increased juggles and demands of work and home. In short, the mental load. And when you’re juggling everything, often the first thing that gives is you. But it’s not just adults a recent survey found that 53% of secondary school pupils in Hong Kong are suffering from symptoms of depression.
So what do we do? I believe it is possible to support good mental health in our communities with three simple steps. Number one is about leading by example. Number two is about supporting others. And number three is about looking after yourself. Who do you look up to? Who’s your role model? Who do you see when I show you these pictures? Do you see a strong man, a model, a prince, an actress? Do you see them as ill, as vulnerable, or as damaged? In fact, all four of them Dwayne Johnson, Cara Delevingne, Prince Harry, and Kwani Fong have spoken publicly about their struggles with mental health problems.
We should applaud The Rock not for his career as a wrestler or as an actor, but for speaking about his depression as a teenager. We should celebrate Cara Delevingne for talking about attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and her suicidal thoughts. We should thank Prince Harry for being open after the death of his mother, Princess Diana, and celebrate Kwani for talking openly about postpartum depression. They have publicly shared their mental health problems and their recovery, and they have remained successful and respected in their own careers, if not more so. They have used their iconic status to reach millions of people globally, to talk openly about mental health, educate on what it feels like, and use it as an opportunity for connection and empathy.
Now, you don’t need to be a celebrity. We are all leaders in our own communities our own homes, our workplaces, our schools. We all experience stresses in life, and we learn how to cope. It could be financial difficulties, stresses at work, or the death of a loved one these are all related to our own mental health. In the workplace, we’ve seen how having a senior leader stand up and talk about their own mental health problems gives staff the confidence to talk, sends the message that having struggles on your way to the top is normal, that you won’t lose out on a promotion because you’re feeling anxious or stressed or on medication, and it sends a message to staff that they are valued.
At a simple level, you can do something called leaving work noisily especially if you’re a line manager. At a reasonable hour, announce very loudly, ‘Bye, I’m going to the gym now,’ or ‘Bye, I’m going to see my family.’ That sends the message to the rest of the team that you are prioritizing the mental health of yourself and your family, and that they should too. And at home, we can lead by educating others about mental health. It could be as simple as having a family meal and asking everyone about their day. And in schools, we should encourage mental health awareness and education to be taught.
But it’s hard to speak up, no matter who you are, where you come from, or what you do. So number two is about supporting others. Social contact has been shown to be one of the single biggest factors for destigmatizing mental health. Talking with someone with a mental health problem shows that mental health fluctuations are a normal part of life. So we need to create the right environment where talking about mental health is part of your everyday social interactions, just like you would about your physical health. In our own research, we found that those who know more about mental health in the workplace are more likely to talk to a line manager about their concerns. And yet, people don’t have that education or awareness.
So I want to be very clear right now that anyone with a mental health problem should seek appropriate advice from a professional. Now, that could be a counselor, a psychologist, a psychiatrist, and there are websites and sources of information that will be able to direct you. But in Hong Kong, a good place to start is actually often your family doctor. But there are signs and symptoms that we can look out for. And more often than not, we’re actually looking out for changes in behavior that indicate that someone might be starting to become unwell or need a little bit of support. Knowing what to look out for and having the confidence to help will mean that you can provide it when they need it.
So if your colleague comes into work late, or maybe they always used to be early, maybe they’re struggling with a stomach ache or a backache, perhaps they’re tired, irritable, maybe you notice they’ve even been drinking a bit too much. Now, it might be there’s a physical health problem going on. It could be they’re struggling with stress at work. It could be a mental health problem. Or it could be something going on at home, or all of the above, because they’re all related. It doesn’t mean that it’s your job to be a counselor and to diagnose and treat mental health problems, just like it’s not your job to diagnose and treat a fracture or a sprain if someone else falls over. But it is your job to notice what’s going on with those around you and offer support.
The same rules apply no matter your community. Find a quiet place, ask the person how they are, and really listen to the answer. They may not want to talk, and that’s okay. But when they do want to talk, they will know that you’re there and that they can talk to you. But you can’t do others if you’re not looking after yourself. Supporting someone with a mental health problem can be stressful, and actually, it’s much harder to recognize symptoms in ourselves sometimes when we ourselves are struggling. So when we think about physical health, we know that’s on a spectrum and it fluctuates over our lifetime, over days, weeks, months. And there are some days when we wake up and we think, ‘Well, I’m going to achieve today,’ and there are other days when we wake up and we just think, ‘Oh, I need to stay on the sofa.’ And things happen we might fall over and break our leg, and that’s okay. We talk about it, we accept it, we track it.
Mental health is the same. It fluctuates, but we’re not as aware of the changes in our mental health day after day, and it’s often gradual when there’s a decline. So sometimes in my living room, I can be found at 10 o’clock at night, wandering around because I’m on 9,500 steps, and I really need to get to my 10,000 steps. And we often don’t have a mental health equivalent of being on 9,500 steps. So if you or someone else around you notice that maybe you’re not yourself recently, maybe you’ve been a bit anxious, maybe you’ve not been sleeping well, then maybe it’s a sign that you need to slow down, find the thing that works for you. It could be singing, like Arwen, it could be meditation, yoga, mindfulness. There’s a whole heap of evidence around physical health, the importance of sleep, and actually, social connections.
So just like you exercise your legs and your lungs to stay physically well, create your mental health routine. And when you find it, tell someone else about it. It sets an example they can nudge you when you need it, and they can notice when you’re not yourself. These ideas may not seem revolutionary to you, but an NGO in Hong Kong last month found that 89% of us believe that we need to readopt a more tolerant attitude towards people with mental health problems in Hong Kong. So right now is the time to put in place these strategies to support mental health, good mental health, in your communities. So you don’t get off lightly, I’m giving you some homework this weekend. Look after yourself, find the thing that works for you, and then tell someone about it. Next week, support someone else, ask someone how they really are, and then really listen to the answer is it what you’d expect? And then next month, do one thing to lead by example. You can make your community a place where speaking openly is celebrated and seen as a badge of honor. You can make your community a place where everyone has strategies to support good mental health, just like they do their physical health. And you can make your community a place where people know it’s okay to talk openly about a mental health problem, and that when they do, they will be met with understanding. Ultimately, your community will be a more productive, cohesive, and healthier place to be, and we will all be stronger for it. So now, let me ask you again, how are you? Thank you.”