Community mental health in the People's Republic of China: a critical analysis.

Community mental health has long been the crucial modality in service delivery of mental health services. This paper is an attempt to evaluate community mental health services in the People's Republic of China. The writer critically argues that community mental health services in the People's Republic of China still have faced a lot of difficulties such as huge demand but scarce resources, withdrawal of governmental funding in related services, inaccessibility of services to deprived and remote rural areas, political control, high mental health illiteracy and problems in formation of multidisciplinary team.

Vocational rehabilitation for persons with mental illness in the People's Republic of China.

This paper is an attempt to describe the vocational rehabilitation services of persons with mental illness in China. It includes work therapy station, mental health services in factories, occupational activities in hospitals, welfare factories, and enterprise based sheltered workshops. Its dilemmas and implications to future development are also mentioned.

An historical review of the mental health services in the People's Republic of China.

Background: This paper is an attempt to describe the historical development of the mental health services in the PRC.

Research Methods: An archive of related literature.

Findings: The development of the mental health services in the PRC could be divided into several stages: the introduction of mental asylums by western missionaries before 1949; indigenization of the treatment model after the establishment of the PRC (1949-1963).

A strengths perspective in working with an adolescent with depression.

Depression has long been a problem in our society. In this paper, the writer tries to contrast a disease orientation and a strengths perspective in helping an adolescent with depression. The strengths perspective advocates identifying needs and ability behind client's symptoms and deficits; nurturing individuals' positive mood and hope to recovery; establishing enlightening encounter between worker and client; and developing positive coping in working with individuals with depression.

A Multi-Dimensional Perspective of Adolescents' Self-Cutting.

Adolescent self-cutting behaviours has a long been a problem in modern society. In this paper, the writer tries review six perspectives in interpreting adolescent self-cutting behaviours. Based on these six perspectives, the writer tries to re-conceptualise a multidimensional model on adolescent self-cutting behaviours.

The situation of family caregivers for people with mental illnesses in Hong Kong.

Family caregiving is very important in psychiatric rehabilitation for people with mental illnesses. By reviewing related studies, the writer describes the situation of family caregivers for people with mental illnesses. Studies showed that only 16.

The importance of subjective psychotic experiences: implications on psychiatric rehabilitation of people with schizophrenia.

Starting with Jaspers in 1910, subjective psychotic experiences of people with schizophrenia became an important area in treatment and rehabilitation of people with schizophrenia. Nevertheless, this area of study is overshadowed by the statistically and diagnostically oriented DSM movement. In this article, the writer tries to re-visit various approaches in understanding subjective psychotic experiences of people with schizophrenia.

The empowerment model: a critical reflection of empowerment in Chinese culture.

The empowerment model has long dominated social work practice in Western countries. Many social workers in Hong Kong use this model regardless of the social or cultural context. In this article the author shares local social work practice experiences in Hong Kong and suggests that the empowerment model may need adaptation in Chinese communities.

Taoism and its impact on mental health of the Chinese communities.

Spirituality and religious coping is an important and rapidly expanding field in recent years. For the Chinese, traditional Taoism may still have a strong impact on the mental health of Chinese people. Taoistic concepts of mental health stress the transcendence from self and secularity, the dynamic revertism of nature, integration with nature and the pursuit of the infinite.

Traditional Chinese religious beliefs and superstitions in delusions and hallucinations of Chinese schizophrenic patients.

Religious beliefs and superstitions have an important impact on the psychopathology of psychiatric patients. Traditional Chinese religious beliefs and superstitions, such as fortune telling, Buddhist gods, Taoist gods, historical heroic gods and ancestor worship, have important influence on subjective psychotic experiences, in particular delusions and hallucinations. By means of empirical phenomenological case narration, the writer shows that all these traditional Chinese religious beliefs and superstitions tend to affect the contents, manifestation and meaningfulness of delusion and hallucination.

The relief of a caregiver's burden through guided imagery, role-playing, humor, and paradoxical intervention.

Caregiving by relatives to a person with mental illness is demanding and overwhelming. This paper describes how to use guided imagery, role-playing, humor, and paradoxical intervention to help the wife of a man with mental illness in easing her worry, anxiety, and frustration engendered by caregiving. The intervention made the wife feel normal and relaxed in facing the "symptoms" of her husband's mental illness.

A mutual-aid group for psychiatric rehabilitation of mental ex-patients in Hong Kong.

Background: Mutual-aid group and self-directed group are recognized as important interventions for anti-oppression of disadvantaged groups in our society.

Method: In this paper, the writer describes a mutual-aid group implemented in a psychiatric half-way house in Hong Kong. Members in this group were free to set their own agenda for discussion and to invite guest speakers.

Chinese cultural dynamics of unemployability of male adults with psychiatric disabilities in Hong Kong.

Work and employment has long been regarded as crucial for the mental health of human beings. Unemployment may lead to deterioration of physical and mental health. Nevertheless, for adults with psychiatric disabilities, discontinuity of employment is common.