One in ten patients mentally ill: study

Hanoi (VNA) - One in ten patients across the country suffer mental health problems, according to research by Bach Mai hospital in Hanoi, which also found that depression was the most problems among patients.

The recent study, tabled at a recent workshop in Hanoi , was aimed at
investigating mental health in a period of transition, as Vietnam
modernises and integrates into the global economy.

The research on the mental health of Vietnamese people during the
market-oriented economy also highlighted 10 categories relates to jobs that
were more strongly correlated to those who suffered mental health problems.
These high-stress jobs were mechanics and metal workers (20.6 percent of
cases), workers in the garments and textiles sectors (11.8 percent) and
those in the footwear sector (11.5 percent). Depression accounts for the
highest rate among disorders relating to mental health (4.6 percent),
followed by sleep disorders (4.07 percent) and anxiety (1.27 percent).

"The first reason causing vocational stress is unfavourable working
conditions such as high levels of noise, dust and exposure to harmful
chemical substances," said PhD Tran Viet Nghi, chairman of the Vietnam
Psychiatry Association.

He also attributed the nature of different jobs as reasons leading to
disorders, including prolonged working periods, jobs with highly repetitive
tasks, those having to produce a large quantity of work in a short time and
jobs relating to the security of human life and national assets.

The workshop was organised to appraise the mental status of Vietnamese
labourers and treatment methods.-