In recent years, anxious family members and police searches have often appeared in Australian Chinese community media and circles of friends. However, the information released by the police after the incident is often "not considered a suspicious death case," involving young people. There are also old people.
Mary Li, a longtime public health and mental health worker in the Chinese community
At the same time, from time to time, foreign students have published comments on social media with obvious depression and even suicidal tendencies, which has aroused the concern and help of many enthusiastic netizens. While they cannot bear to speculate and ask questions, these deplorable realities also highlight the mental health and well-being of Chinese in Australia.
Life Hotline (Lifeline Australia), Australia's national charity for life crisis relief and suicide prevention, conducted an in-depth survey of the mental health needs and psychological well-being of Chinese Australians. A feasibility study on the establishment of a Chinese-language hotline for psychological crisis support was released to the Chinese community last week.
In the course of the six-month study, the project team conducted a number of surveys in Sydney and surrounding areas, including an online Chinese-English questionnaire survey, community activities, and a review of the mental health needs of the existing Australian Chinese community. Existing service plans and projects with Chinese community statistics, as well as a series of special interviews. Of the 2080 valid questionnaires received, 80% were Chinese Australian women.
According to the survey, 38 percent of Chinese in Australia are under pressure recently, 36 percent know that people around them are experiencing stress, and 27 percent know that suicide is taking place in the community.
Common triggers of stress and anxiety among Chinese in Australia include financial and family-related issues; adaptation to life in Australia; and lack of access to friends and family in China.
What is worrying is that for Chinese in Australia who have been under pressure for some time, the majority (63%) have not sought any help during this period. The main obstacles to not seeking help are the lack of culturally and linguistically appropriate services and ethnic discrimination.
For Chinese seeking help, family and friends are the main ways to get help. If they are seeking help from professionals, they are obviously inclined to Chinese-speaking psychologists and psychiatrists.
Alan Woodward, executive director of the Life Hotline Research Foundation, told a report conference in China Garden, Sydney: "according to our statistics, 10% of the helpline's annual calls to help are from English, not the first language. Life Hotline must ensure that all people-regardless of their race, religious beliefs and cultural background-have equal access to psychological crisis support services. "
The report also found that, for Chinese in Australia, the preferred items for implementing mental health services or programs include services or practitioners with Chinese cultural understanding and Chinese communication skills; confidentiality; anonymity; trust and affinity; Do not use interpreter preferences; and flexible sexual service, for easy access when needed.
Based on these findings, the report highlights the broad need for strong support from social and other service groups for mental health and well-being among Chinese Australians. Especially since Sydney is the most densely populated area of Australian Chinese, there is an urgent need to tailor-made mental health services for Chinese.
As a multicultural society, Australia's needs are changing. The study gives life hotlines an important step in meeting changing social needs. We are now sure that services to the Chinese community must be based on an understanding of Chinese culture, including social norms and language. At the same time, Chinese Australians want these services to be confidential, anonymous and easy to operate, "Mr. Woodward said.
Alan Woodward, Executive Director, Life Hotline Research Foundation
The report, entitled "Feasibility study on the Chinese Life Hotline" (click here to read the full report), is a three-year agreement between the Bridge Love Charitable Foundation (Bridging Hope Charity Foundation), founded by Ms. Tian, an Australian Chinese, in 2013, and the Australian Life Hotline. Part of the four hundred and fifty thousand-funded strategic cooperation was first launched in New Zealand at the 2018 (IASP) Asia Pacific meeting of the International Association for the Prevention of suicide (May 2-5).
Mary Li, a longtime public health and mental health worker in the Chinese community, helped gather information from the survey. After 21 years in the Hills region of northwest Sydney, she has witnessed an increase in the Chinese population and changes in family structure, including increasing numbers of Chinese children attending nearby schools and elderly immigrants from China to reunite with their children.
She believes that the biggest factor in the psychological problems of the Chinese community is the "face" culture, which "people will not talk about", so she believes it is most important for people to understand the importance of seeking help.
"if there is something wrong with a family, if a person behaves strangely, they may need help. They must have the courage to speak out. "
According to SBS's report last year, Sydney general practitioner Danforn Lim raised the same concern: "as Chinese, we put the value of our family above the individual, and in fact, it makes the patient. It is unlikely to seek help from doctors, psychiatrists, or counsellors who fear that mental health problems will be treated as crazy people with mental illness. "
"the Chinese population in Australia continues to grow rapidly and the culture tends to be diversified," said Stephen Fitzpatrick, director-general of the Bridge Love Charitable Foundation of Australia. We hope that this study will contribute to the development of culturally adaptable services, thus removing obstacles to people seeking help in the face of difficulties, Ideally, it would encourage people to pick up their phones and ask for help before they feel helpless and desperate. "
Based on the report, the Life Hotline research team will start a scoping study early next year to advance progress in providing Chinese with the psychological crisis support they need.
Life Hotline Lifeline provides psychological crisis support services 24 hours a day, if you need support, you can use the free national telephone interpretation service 131,450, and then ask an interpreter to connect you to the Life Hotline 13 11 14.