On the spectrum: China's mental health

Previous shows

On the spectrum: China's mental health

The National People's Congress just finished collecting public opinions on passing China's first Mental Health Law. How is China's mental health in general? And how the legislation might impact you and me?

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Background

November 30 was the final day for the National People's Congress to collect public opinions on passing China's first Mental Health Law. Rather than getting into the technical details of the drafted law, in our next two shows we will be talking about mental health among the Chinese population and how the legislation might impact you and me. Our discussion all began from some online cartoons.

Poll

Guest profile

Xu Kaiwen (left): Deputy director of the Counseling and Psychotherapy Center of the Peking University.

Wang Shaoli (right): Vice director of Beijing Huilongguan Hospital

Photo

Next show

Although a large portion of the drafted Mental Health Law is related to people with mental illnesses, our two guests said the severity of people's mental health varies in degree, and the drafted law also includes the general public. How do psychiatrists keep themselves happy when all they deal with every day are people who are not happy? For our next show on December 15, we will begin with this question and then find out what they think of the draft Mental Health Law, a draft that's been discussed for 26 years.

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