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Saturday, Feb 22, 2025
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Students' bouts of depression
More than one-third of secondary school students could have suffered moderate or severe depression, while over half have anxiety, with parental relationship a contributing factor, says a survey by Baptist Oi Kwan Social Service.
The NGO's mental wellness service for children asked 1,192 students between October last year and June, in which 35 percent of students were found to have symptoms of moderate to very severe depression, while more than half of them have anxiety symptoms.
The depression level of students is similar to the group's last survey in 2018.
The NGO found more than two-thirds of students have bad relationships with their parents, and their mental health is poor, with more serious symptoms.
The NGO also found more than half of surveyed students show different levels of stress. One in three have moderate to very serious levels of stress and professional help is needed.
The pandemic situation, which contributed 40 percent, was the top source of discontent in life that led to stressful feelings among students. Parental relationship, public exam and future career path were three main factors affecting the mental health of students, the survey found.
"Parents should put more emphasis on children's feelings instead of only caring about their grades," the NGO said.
The father of one anxious university student, M, ordered his son to listen to him, which hurt their relationship and worsened the anxiety problem.
"In Hong Kong, most parents regard providing material needs for children as having a good parent-children relationship. However, a good parent-children relationship is to walk together with the child and understand the child's inner feelings to establish intimacy instead of being authoritative and superior," M said.
A secondary student surnamed Lam, who had mended her relationship with her mother after suffering from depression, said the best way for parents to get along with their children is to communicate in a friend-like manner.
As results have also shown students with better emotional management skills suffer less from mental frustration, the social service group suggested students increase self-support by having more me-time and more affiliation with friends and family.
The NGO used different assessment criteria this year - depression, anxiety and stress level, level of satisfaction with life, relationship with parents and emotion regulation skills. However, results of mental health problems remain similar to the last report in 2018.
The depression level of students is similar to the group's last survey in 2018.
The NGO found more than two-thirds of students have bad relationships with their parents, and their mental health is poor, with more serious symptoms.
The NGO also found more than half of surveyed students show different levels of stress. One in three have moderate to very serious levels of stress and professional help is needed.
The pandemic situation, which contributed 40 percent, was the top source of discontent in life that led to stressful feelings among students. Parental relationship, public exam and future career path were three main factors affecting the mental health of students, the survey found.
"Parents should put more emphasis on children's feelings instead of only caring about their grades," the NGO said.
The father of one anxious university student, M, ordered his son to listen to him, which hurt their relationship and worsened the anxiety problem.
"In Hong Kong, most parents regard providing material needs for children as having a good parent-children relationship. However, a good parent-children relationship is to walk together with the child and understand the child's inner feelings to establish intimacy instead of being authoritative and superior," M said.
A secondary student surnamed Lam, who had mended her relationship with her mother after suffering from depression, said the best way for parents to get along with their children is to communicate in a friend-like manner.
As results have also shown students with better emotional management skills suffer less from mental frustration, the social service group suggested students increase self-support by having more me-time and more affiliation with friends and family.
The NGO used different assessment criteria this year - depression, anxiety and stress level, level of satisfaction with life, relationship with parents and emotion regulation skills. However, results of mental health problems remain similar to the last report in 2018.
