The National Health Research Institutes (NHRI) are next month to release a series of videos discussing mental illness to promote awareness and teach people how to respond to mental health issues, it said yesterday.
The institutes’ Center for Neuropsychiatric Research said that the prevalence of mental illnesses has been increasing globally, making discussion of mental health an important issue.
Most people lack a sufficient understanding about mental health, and labeling and stigma toward people with mental illness often leave them unwilling to seek treatment.
Photo: CNA
NHRI vice president and center director Chen Wei-jen (陳為堅) said that the risk of self-harm among young people is increasing globally, but the human brain is one of the most difficult organs to understand and without adequate knowledge of mental illnesses, it is hard for people to be aware of the symptoms and seek medical assistance.
The center collaborated with doctors and Panmedia Co to produce 14 videos called Dr Kudo’s Psychiatric Detective Agency (工藤心醫的心靈偵探事務所), a picture book and a set of flash cards discussing psychiatry, psychology, cognitive neuroscience, and mental illnesses and treatment, Chen said.
Project lead Lin Yan-yeng (林彥鋒), an attending physician at the center, said that while governments and medical institutions have stepped up their efforts to promote mental health in the past few years, many videos on the issue are either too academic and difficult to understand, or are focused on personal experiences and perspectives, which could be misleading or insufficiently explained, and could lead to people not seeking or delaying treatment.
Taipei City Hospital’s Songde Branch addiction prevention psychiatrist Lin Chun (林群), who is the host in the video series, said they interview experts and explain the symptoms, diagnosis and treatment of common mental illnesses.
The first episode focuses on schizophrenia, teaching people to recognize the symptoms of the disorder and to encourage people to seek professional help and resources, Lin Chun said.
The videos are expected to be broadcast on FTV News channel on Sunday afternoons, starting early next month, and also on PanSci’s YouTube channel on Tuesdays and Thursdays, the center said.
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