Listen to #Hashtag Hong Kong every Sunday morning at 8.15
Focusing on issues affecting civil society, we'll hear from representatives of NGOs, associations, statutory bodies, and non-profit groups.
(Sundays 8.15am - 8.25am)
Good morning, welcome to #Hashtag Hong Kong. As a clinical psychologist at the Mental Health Association of Hong Kong - which is a non-profit association dedicated to mental health awareness and services - I would like to shine a spotlight on a condition that affects many but is often misunderstood: psychosis.
Let me start with a brief introduction about this condition. Psychosis is a mental health condition characterized by a disconnection from reality. People experiencing psychosis may have difficulty differentiating what is real from what is not real. This can manifest through symptoms such as hallucinations. For example, you are seeing things or hearing things that aren’t there, and delusions – you are having strong beliefs that are not based in reality.
According to global estimates, approximately 3 in 100 people will experience psychosis at some point in their lives. It can occur at any age but is most commonly diagnosed in late adolescence to early adulthood. While it’s less common than other mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety, psychoeducation about psychosis and early intervention are crucial.
In general, symptoms can be categorized into positive symptoms and negative symptoms. Positive symptoms happen when a person is experiencing additional things that are originally not there. For example like delusional thoughts like somebody is spying on me or you are the president of a country, or having different types of hallucinations that pertain to our senses like auditory, visual and tactile. Or you may have disorganized speech and abnormal motor behaviors such as agitated movements or repetitive actions. On the other hand, negative symptoms refer to the absence or reduction of normal behaviors. For example like having flat affect, limited facial expressions, limited speech, changes in mood, lack of motivation, or lack of desire to engage in social activities.
Treatment typically involves a combination of antipsychotic medications, psychotherapy, and also psychosocial support groups. Early intervention is key—it can significantly improve outcomes. Psychotherapy such as Cognitive-behavioral therapy or we call CBT tailored for psychosis can help individuals to manage symptoms and to develop coping strategies. Support groups and community resources also play a vital role in recovery. There are a lot support groups tailored for individuals struggling with psychosis to target social skills improvement, self-care skills and independent living skills. The goal is to help them in skills building to decrease the functional impairments caused by psychosis, and hence resume a normal life and integrate back to the society.
On a personal level, I’ll say it’s crucial for individuals to maintain a structured daily routine, and to stay connected with supportive friends and family, and also follow with your treatment plans including medications and psychotherapy. It’s also important to explore interests and activities that bring you joy and purpose and to stay engaged with people around you.
I once had a client who’s been struggling with psychosis for over 10 years that he would cover his left ear whenever he hears voices. With proper treatment and skills building, he’s able to differentiate reality with his auditory hallucinations, so that he’s not being responsive or reactive to the voices, even if the voices are still there with him. Once he has become more stable with his symptoms, we started taking him to do volunteer work in the community where he would help dispatching lunch boxes to the homeless population. That volunteer work gave him opportunities to reconnect to people, to the community and also built a sense of accomplishment in him. Ultimately he’s able to live a fulfilling life despite his diagnosis.
I want to emphasize that psychosis is a treatable condition. If you or someone you know is experiencing symptoms, seeking help early can make a significant difference. Recovery is a journey, increasing awareness and reducing stigma are important steps to make sure everybody gets the right support they need. Last but not least, remember your mental health is just as important as your physical health, and no one should face these challenges alone.
Thank you so much for tuning in today and hope together we can build a more informed and supportive community.
Happy 2025 to everyone, we are a small Hong Kong-based NGO focusing on climate justice.
While looking back at 2024, it has been the warmest year on record since 1884 with an average temperature as high as 24.8 degrees. While you may have the impression of how hot the weather was, you may not be aware that we had a total of 52 very hot weather warning days, with the highest temperature reaching over 36 degrees. All these record-breaking weather conditions are telling us that climate change has been more drastic than ever.
When talking about climate change in the past, people might have liaised it with environmental problems only, but it is now widely known that climate has made extensive impacts to social and economic areas as well, and we must take real actions to tackle the climate disasters.
So for example what have you done to cope with the extreme heat? Maybe you have turned on the air-conditioning, went swimming or enjoyed some icy drinks to cool off yourself. However, not everyone in the society is as fortunate. There are quite some vulnerable communities in Hong Kong who suffer much more in terms of physical and mental health. These groups include low-income families living in inadequate housing units, elderly, people with disabilities and chronic illness, and outdoor workers. They contribute the least to the climate crisis, yet suffer from its worst impacts, while having the fewest resources to cope with these challenges, including but not limited to typhoon, flooding and extreme heat. Through our community dialogue initiative, we have mobilized over 100 NGOs to integrate climate action into their daily services and support these vulnerable communities.
The climate crisis is here and ahead, making adaptation essential. Since 2021, CarbonCare InnoLab has launched a pilot community programme in Kwai Chung area, aiming to build climate resilience of the underprivileged groups together with other NGO partners. We provide training and facilitate workshops for the residents to practice low-carbon living styles including onsite gardening and upcycling initiatives, while we also co-create ways with them to enhance energy efficiency and get prepared for extreme weather disasters. Over two years, we are proud to see how the residents forming groups in voluntary basis to continue and lead on these climate actions.
Of course, in the long run, we would like to call for an elimination of inadequate housing as the first step, so no one has to face the extreme heat together with poor air circulation issues which can be fatal. Also, the government must plan for building the climate resilience of the vulnerable groups, which can include the climate adaptation capabilities in the public housing projects, for example, having water resistant and windproof designs for buildings, introducing heat prevention technique and materials, and significant green public areas to ensure air circulation within and between buildings.
Besides the adaptation measures, CarbonCare InnoLab always advocates tackling climate issues from the root cause with a comprehensive mitigation strategy. We are delighted to see Hong Kong announcing our own Climate Action Plan 2050, and set goals to cut half of carbon emissions by 2035 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050; but there is still a very big loophole in how the government is leading us to achieve these targets.
Taking renewable energy as an example, we welcome the government to continue promoting green transportation policy and to develop green hydrogen, yet there is barely any mention of developing solar and wind power. We urge for a detailed energy transition roadmap with a clear timeline to phasing out fossil fuel.
Since 2019, CarbonCare InnoLab has launched the SolarCare Programmes to build solar energy systems for NGOs and schools with the support from philanthropy and corporate funders. In the past five years, we have built more than 30 PV systems widely spread across the city and generated more than 6000 megawatt-hours in total, and we target to have 20 more systems upcoming. Being sincerely thankful to the trust of funders and our solar partners, we have successfully avoided over 3300 tonnes CO2 emission together, and walk one step closer to a Zero Carbon Hong Kong in the near future.
While more stakeholders are aware of the affordable and clean energy, it requires more incentives from the government to continue the growth. The current feed-in-tariff scheme only lasts until 2033, and we truly believe that an extension of the scheme will largely encourage sustainable investments in renewable energy.
Apart from the local issues, CarbonCare InnoLab also believes in the importance of upholding values as a global citizen. Climate disasters are one of the most prioritized global issues and it requires all the countries to pay tremendous attention and effort to save our planet, which also means saving the human habitat.
Every year, we provide training to the enthusiastic young professionals and students who are devoted to climate solutions and advocacy. Global perspectives and climate issues development are key content in our training. We have been attending the United Nations Climate Change Conference since 2015 as an NGO observer, and we have led groups of youth to participate and negotiate onsite in recent years. The learnings and experiences have inspired our young leaders to create and continue climate actions back in Hong Kong. And we are thrilled to see the alumni network growing into a resourceful and insightful young climate leader circle. The future belongs to the young generation, and CarbonCare InnoLab is dedicated to fight for a sustainable future jointly with their force.
We are celebrating our 10th anniversary and I would love to take this opportunity to present my wholehearted appreciation to our small team of 15 people with aligned values. I would like to dedicate the song, “Truth To Power” by OneRepublic to everyone who is with us on the just transition journey.
