Opinion

Coronavirus pandemic is unleashing a mental health crisis Hong Kong is unprepared for

The impacts of the stress of economic uncertainty, risks to health and restrictions on daily life are likely to last long after the end of the pandemic

Having already been caught ill-prepared by the current wave of Covid-19, Hong Kong cannot afford to ignore its ticking mental health time bomb

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A pedestrian passes tape cordoning off an outdoor excerise park at the Kwun Tong promenade on March 3. Strict social distancing measures prevent Hongkongers from doing many leisure activities. Photo: Bloomberg

Anson Au, PhD, is an assistant professor of sociology, in the Department of Applied Social Sciences, at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

Published: 8:15am, 10 Mar 2022

The most insidious poisons are those that linger the longest. The surge in Covid-19 case numbers in Hong Kong in recent weeks has bludgeoned the city’s public health defences.

Pundits have rightly turned their attention to how to curb the spread of Covid-19, but they seem to assume that everything will return to normal after it passes. This could not be further from the truth. We are faced with a deeper mental health crisis unleashed by the pandemic, the effects of which will be felt long after Covid-19 fades.

Having studied stress for years, I have observed that it is one of the most significant yet most underestimated plagues of modern society. Stress is a matter of life and death.

It is a precursor to mental disorders, like depression and suicide ideation, and diseases of despair, like alcoholism and substance abuse. Stress also indirectly increases the risk of major heart diseases and all-cause mortality, an effect that can begin as early as childhood.