ILLUSTRATION:^ ILYA^ MILSTEIN043Tech tacklesChina’s mentalhealth crisisAt the end of her master’s in social
work at New York’s Columbia University,
Qian Zhuang was struck by the quality
of the career advice and pastoral care
she had received – and she wondered if
it would be possible to create a similar
service in her native China. She started
writing articles about mental health
and happiness, and posted them on the
social network WeChat. Today, Know
Yourself – the lifestyle brand that grewout of her blogging – has more than
four million followers on WeChat, and
three million on other platforms.
Stigma and a lack of specialists make
it harder for Chinese patients to seek
and receive care. Globally, 48 per cent
of people with a serious mental disorder
do not seek treatment; in China, this
figure is 87 per cent, according to the
World Mental Health Survey.
China’s taboos are a legacy of the
Mao era – a collectivist Confucian
culture that penalises difference –
and the paucity of non-discriminatory
representation in popular culture.- In China, less
than six per cent
of people with
anxiety, dementia,
depression or
issues associated
with drug abuse
seek treatment.
UNHEALTHY STATISTICS- It’s predicted
that China will
have 23 million
dementia sufferers
by 2030 – more
than any other
country – costing
$114 billion (£90
billion) to treat.
3. Transgender
people, viewed as
mentally ill, often
resort to black
market drugs and
self-surgery. One
report suggested
400,000 were
planning surgery.
4. There are two
psychiatrists and
five registered
nurses for every
100,000 Chinese- in the west the
stats are 13 and 23
respectively. SW
- in the west the
In a nation critically short of psychological services,
WeChat apps are helping to address a deep tabooThe government is trying to address
this, legislating a national mental
health law strengthening patients’
rights; securing better qualifications
for therapists; and launching the
686 scheme for community-based
psychological services.
However, an inability to decouple
mental illness from the idea of taking
care of mental health prevents a less
stigmatised conversation. The view that
mental health should interest everyone
is what companies such as Know
Yourself promote. Now the company is
launching an app where patients can
interact with counsellors – important in
a nation with an estimated 180 million
potential consumers for treatment
(4.3 million in desperate need), but only
20,000 qualified specialists.
Know Yourself’s two main
competitors in China – Jiandan Xinli
and Yi Xinli – are focused on the clinical
and medical aspects of mental health,
where Know Yourself presents a
more lifestyle-oriented approach. All
three services provide free booking
platforms to help users connect
with qualified therapists – not easy
in a country whose government has
repeatedly launched schemes that
rush the qualification process.
These companies are using the
WeChat ecosystem to raise awareness
about mental health, and capitalise on
that with for-pay services – creating a
potent tool to tackle stigma by talking
more generally about healthy minds.
For now, however, that conversation
is still nascent, as well as skewed
demographically. “Our average user
is in a first- or second-tier city, 70 per
cent of them are female, and 80 per
cent have an undergraduate degree,”
says Qian. Her goal is to reach the
wider population. “I believe that
everyone can be happy, and that it is
a skill we can work on,” she says. “Our
mission is to help people develop the
skill of happiness.” Barclay BramSTART09-19-STchinaHealth.indd 33 09/07/2019 12:52