Commentary
China is Prepared to Fight Against Emerging Mental Health Disorders?
Fengyu Zhang1,2*, Jingping Zhao1,2
1Institute of Mental Health and the Second Xiangya Hospital of the Central South University, Changsha, P.R. China
2The China National Clinical Research Center for Mental Health Disorder in Changsha, P.R. China
Abstract
Over past three decades a rapid change in social and economic development has been made in China. As a result of the modernization, mental health disorders have surpassed cancer and the cardiovascular diseases and become the leading cause of burden. However, the large demand and inadequate access to mental health services are big challenges to the mental health care. China has passed the first mental health law in late 2012, and recently announced the national five-year mental health work plan. Autism, schizophrenia, depression and dementia, four brain disorders occurring at different stages across the lifespan, are considered as prioritized disease areas. These diseases are emerging mental health issues, and efforts to scientific research may provide important implications for neuropsychiatric medicine, in particular for developing novel strategies for effective therapeutic and preventive intervention, to fight against mental health disorders in China.