Stressed out Vietnamese falling mentally ill in the millions

At a conference organized by the Vietnam National Institute of Mental Health in Hanoi this week, the ministry said that mental disorders related to stress have increased strongly in recent years.

If 15-20 years ago, the institute received one or two patients needing treatment for psychological disorders and mental stress a day, it now gets around 300 patients each day.

Duong Minh Tam, head of the department dealing with stress-related disorders at the institute, said such problems were mostly found in young people, more females than males.

Many youth have been admitted to the institute for damaging themselves physically due to stress at school and at home, he said.

Institute doctors said most patients and their families were not aware of their conditions for a long time, preventing timely treatment and worsening the situation.

In February last year, a study released by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said mental health and psychosocial problems are widespread and increasing in Vietnam, particularly among children and young people, and despite some progress, the service environment and response remain largely inadequate.

The lack of mental health services is particularly acute in remote provinces and is unable to prevent suicide and treat mental health disorders, which are often at the heart of suicidal ideation and attempts, it said.

It added that even when mental health and psychosocial services were provided through social welfare and social protection centers, mental health hospitals and psychosocial units in schools, their quality and coverage was limited, and often focused more on severe disorders.