Youth Mental Health - Interview with Coolminds HK

What is Coolminds? Can you give us some background on the founding, mission and goals of this project?

Coolminds, a joint initiative between Mind HK and KELY Support Group, works to improve the mental health of young people in Hong Kong through training, information sharing, online resources, destigmatisation, as well as providing support for the adults around them.

Mission and Vision

To educate and empower young people to look after themselves and those around them.

To improve the mental health of young people, and ensure no young person has to face a mental health problem alone in Hong Kong.

What has Coolminds raised awareness about the stigma surrounding youth mental health so far? in Hong Kong.

In our workshops, we specifically discuss how we value our physical health and seek help if we have any problems. However, help-seeking behaviour for mental health issues is delayed due to the stigma attached.

In addition to our training, we have partnered with mental health organisations overseas to be able to bring best practices and resources to Hong Kong. These resources including anti-stigma resources will be available on our website.

Are there any significant events or campaigns that Coolminds is hoping to create and host in the future?

The Coolminds website will be launched within the next few weeks.

Coolminds will be helping Mind HK to host the Youth Summit which will be a part of the Hong Kong Mental Health conference in November 2020.

As discussed earlier, we also have mental health trainings for students, parents and teachers which are run throughout the year.

Which aspect of youth mental health management do you think Hong Kong is lacking the most in and why? How can this aspect be worked upon?

The shortage of professional help to meet the demands of mental health services continues to be a problem. The number of public sector psychiatrists per 100,000 people is 4.6 in Hong Kong, versus 8.59 for high income countries. The wait time for someone not considered high risk can vary from 38 weeks to 3 years. There also remains an imbalance between schools in terms of the number and approachability of school counsellors and social workers. While some schools have a good ratio of counsellors to students, others may only have 1 for the entire school.

Hence, at Coolminds we are working on a whole-school approach to mental health training and program. We want young people, parents and teachers to know it is okay to talk about mental health, how to identify signs of distress and how to help young people.

Another aspect which is helpful is peer-support. Research has found that the first person young people approach regarding any distress is their peers. Hence, guiding young people to be empathetic and providing support to their peers during stressful times plays an important role in improving youth mental health.

Is there a key point that Coolminds wishes to emphasise in regards to how adults should go about improving the mental health of youths, whether they be relatives or academic staff?

What Coolminds hopes the adults around youth will have a good understanding of mental health to 1. Take care of their own mental health and 2. To have the resources to be able to reach out and help these young people when there is a need.

Do you have any advice to give to youths who are endeavouring to promote youth mental health awareness in their communities?

We would encourage them to not give up and to not be ashamed to start small within their friend circles. if schools are supportive of helping organise school wide events, this is also beneficial.

As previously mentioned, peer- support, just listening and being there for your friend in times of need can make a great difference.

Sometimes it’s not doing something big, but in the way young people conduct themselves and their attitude towards mental health that sets the right way forward.

What do you think the future holds for the youth in terms of the mental health situation in Hong Kong?

With the uncertainty of the future in the midst of COVID-19, mental health in youth and adults in Hong Kong will be having a tough time as we continue to make adjustments to what is normal. Students in Hong Kong already have several factors of stress such as academics or relationships. Hence, the current situation has also caused an increase in further stress and anxiety.

We at Coolminds will continue to keep our ears to the ground to walk with young people and the adults around them through our resources and trainings.

If people want to get involved with Coolminds, how can they do this and what can they do?

Coolminds has a summer internship program for youth. We are also continuously updating our blogs and personal stories on our website and are always looking for contributions.

In addition, as Coolminds is a bilingual website aiming at all youth in Hong Kong, we are continuously seeking translators from English to/from traditional Chinese.

Our Coolminds website will be launching soon. Check out the ‘Get Involved’ page at www.coolmindshk.com to seek out all the available opportunities to get involved.

In the meantime, please email us at hello@coolminds. hk if you are interested in getting involved.

What is one message that Coolminds would like to send to Hong Kong youths who are in need of mental health support?

It’s okay to not be okay. The most important thing is that you know where to reach out for help and that you are not afraid to do so.