in2mentalhealth

This article is a trip through the current mental health field of Asia in 51 recent articles about 16 Asian countries.
Mental health services, legislation and capacity building on the Asian continent are developing step by step, although great challenges remain as you can read.
Not all countries and topics are included; it’s just an attempt to give you an impression about what’s going on and how it is reported.

China:
Unable to Cope: China’s Inadequate Care of the Mentally Ill, the Atlantic, July 2013.
China: End Arbitrary Detention in Mental Health Institutions, Human Rights Watch, May 2013.
China’s New Mental Health Law: Reframing Involuntary Treatment, the American Journal of Psychiatry, June 2013.
China’s first-ever mental health law doesn’t solve the problem of getting ‘mentally ill-ed’, Quartz blog post, May 2013.
China: Mentally ill face dilemma without rehabilitation, Xinhuanet news, August 2013.
No way out for mentally ill, Global Times, July 2013.

Laos PDR:
The Need to Train Psychiatrists in Lao PDR, the Huffingtonpost, October 2013.
LAOS: Mental health still neglected, underfunded, Irin News, April 2011.

Vietnam:
Mental Health Care in Vietnam, AsiaLife Magazine, January 2013.
Doctors say Vietnam has more mentally ill patients than reported, Thanhnien News, September 2013.
Vietnam’s mental health sector lags behind, Vietnam Plus, October 2013.

Bhutan:
Meet the overwhelmed psychiatrist in the world’s happiest country, the Star World, September 2013.
A miserable world for mental health, Kuensel Online, September 2013.

Pakistan:
Steps urged to address mental health issues, Dawn.com, October 2013.
World Mental Health Day: Mental battle in conflict zone, the Express Trinune, October 2013.
Drones take toll on mental health, the China Daily, April 2013.
Mental health matters: No shame in seeking help, the Daily Times, October 2013.

Fiji: (Fiji is not part of Asia and is not part of any continent, but I think it fits in here quite well)
Paradigm shift in mental health, Figi Times, December 2013.
Fiji’s puts resources into mental health, Radio Australia, July 2013.
Fiji to open region’s first mental health facility, Australia Network News, July 2013.

Indonesia:
Mentally ill patients in Indonesia held in chains, BBC News, April 2013.
Tackling shackling of the mentally ill in Indonesia, Irin News, February 2013.
Mobile mental health care pilot kicks off in Jakarta, Irin News, August, 2013.
New documentary explores Indonesian practice ‘pasung’, Australia Network News, November 2013.

Cambodia:
Mental Health Care Cambodia, Asia Life, January 2013.
Analysis: What ails Cambodia’s mental health system?, Irin News,March 2012.
Spanning Distance and Culture in Psychiatric Education: A Teleconferencing Collaboration Between Cambodia and the United States, Academic Psychiatry, September 2013.

Sri Lanka:
Mental health cost borne by families of missing in Sri Lanka, Reliefweb, September 2013.
World Suicide Prevention Day: Why Sri Lanka still needs to worry about mental health, the Republic Square, September 2013.
Gearing mental health care to meet modern day needs, The Island, November 2012.

Nepal:
Nepal’s post-conflict mental health needs neglected, Irin News, December 2013.
Eliminating the stigma of mental health diseases, My Republica, October 2013.
The importance of mental well-being, the Kathmandu Post, June 2013.

Japan:
Depression in Japan: Psychiatric Cures for a Society in Distress, the Times Higher Education, January 2012.
Survey: In corporate Japan, a sharp rise in consultations on mental disorders, the Asahi Shimbun, August, 2013.
Why are so many Nepalese in Japan taking their own lives?, the Japan Times, September 2013.

Malaysia:
More Malaysians Will Experience Mental Illness By 2020, the Malaysian Digest, October 2013.
Negative Perception Derails Drug Addicts’ Recovery, Bernama News, December 2013.
12% Malaysians suffer from some forms of mental illness, the Sundaily, February 2012.

Afghanistan:
Improving Access to Mental Health Care and Psychosocial Support within a Fragile Context: A Case Study from Afghanistan, Plos Medicin, May 2012.
Mental health in Afghanistan: Poverty, vulnerability have bigger impact than war, study finds, Washington University in St. Louis newsroom, March 2013.
At Afghan shrine, ancient treatment for mental illness, the Washington Post, October 2012.

India:
Mental health bill set to revolutionise care in India, the Lancet, July 2013.
Abandoned with bedbugs in West Bengal, MDAC info, November 2013.
Our final Blog Action Day favourite: Human rights and mental health in India, Amnesty’s global human rights blog, October 2013.
Mental health care challenge, the Hindu, October 2013.

Russia:
Deadly fire exposes failures of Russia’s mental health care system, the Raw Story, April 2013.
Russia: Abhorrent use of punitive psychiatry to silence dissent, Amnesty International, October 2013.
Treatment needs, diagnoses and use of services for acutely admitted psychiatric patients in northwest Russia and northern Norway, International Journal of Mental Health Systems, January 2013.

Burma:
When Western therapies fail, New Internationalist Magazine, May 2012.
Trauma and mental health of medics in eastern Myanmar’s conflict zones: a cross-sectional and mixed methods investigation, Conflict and Health, July 2013.

Roos Korste, psychologist, international trainer, blogger