The Macau Federation of Trade Unions (commonly known as Gung Luen in Cantonese) and local think tank Choi In Tong Sam held a forum yesterday where Gung Luen Vice President Ella Lei Cheng I said that as the number of cases of psychosocial problems has been increasing in recent years, there was a need to enhance mental health support services in Macau, such as increasing psychological counselling for employees.
Lei is a directly elected member of the Legislative Council.
Lei made the remarks during the forum held at Gung Leun’s headquarters, with representatives from the education, psychological and social service sectors attending and discussing issues on preventing psychological issues and promoting mental health education, as well as community service.
Lei said she hoped that through the one-day forum, feasible options could be explored to promote the establishment of relevant support networks and to popularise the government’s mental health prevention education.
Chinese Federation for Analytical Psychology (CFAP) President Lao Wan U, who was one of the speakers in yesterday’s forum, said that mental health should be a matter of prevention, which was very important in one’s early childhood stage, and could have a profound impact on their career development.
“However, new parents in Macau lack relevant knowledge to deal with kids’ mental problems,” Lao said, suggesting that relevant courses should be set up for parents to learn, so as to start related mental illness prevention at a very young age.
Richmond Fellowship of Macau (RFM) Director General Sou Keng Ieong said during yesterday’s forum he saw a trend of younger people seeking help for mental support in recent years, pointing out that that if people who potentially have emotional problems are not treated properly, they could become mental patients, thereby putting extra burden on the city’s medical resources. Sou reaffirmed that people who are at risk of mental health problems should seek help as early as possible.
According to the Richmond Fellowship of Hong Kong website, the organisation is affiliated to Richmond Fellowship International, a world-wide network of self-governing non-profit organisations sharing the common aim of promoting good community care practice in the field of mental health. It is a member of the Asia Pacific Forum of the Richmond Fellowship which was established in 1991, which aims to facilitate the exchange of knowledge and experience between the Richmond Psychosocial Foundation International (RPFI) branches in Australia, New Zealand, the Pacific Islands, Nepal, India, Hong Kong, and Macau.
Members of the Macau Federation of Trade Unions (Gung Luen) and local think tank Choi In Tong Sam attend a mental health promotion forum yesterday at Gung Leun’s headquarters. – Photo courtesy of TDM
