A series of suicide prevention strategies can help improve mental healthcare in the community, Centre for Suicide Research & Prevention Project Director Frances Law says. No one should feel ashamed to seek help if they are feeling depressed, she added.

Latest statistics from the centre and the Coroner's Court revealed that in Hong Kong, 1,238 people committed suicide in 2003. That is a ratio of 18.2 suicides for every 100,000 people.

The figure is higher than the world's average rate of 15. For people aged 30 to 59, the suicide rate has risen from 11.7 in 1997 to 19.9 people per 100,000 in 2003.

Help at hand: Centre for Suicide Research & Prevention Project Director Frances Law (left) says better integration of research, training and resources production will help tackle the problem. Little Prince is Depressed website producer Pasu Au-Yeung and copywriter Jessie Yau (right) urge people to seek help immediately when feeling depressed.

Among all suicide methods, the rate of charcoal-burning has increased from 3% in 1998 to 26.4% in 2003, the second most common method of suicide in Hong Kong.

In an interview with news.gov.hk, Ms Law said depression is a major cause of suicide and a common risk factor among people who are suicidal as well. While there are organisations running educational programmes to enhance public awareness of depression, the centre did a recent survey that found only 20% of people who had seriously considered suicide might seek help from professionals.

She noted the figure is still low, adding depressed people require professional support and there is a need to motivate people to seek help as soon as they identify the problem.

"It is important for the public to understand that it is not a stigma to seek help. We really want to let people know that if someone gets depressed, they need to see a doctor or a professional just like people who suffer from flu" should see a doctor, Ms Law added.

Creative website raises awareness

To address the issue, a creative website, Little Prince is Depressed, was launched on last year's World Suicide Prevention Day, on September 10, to boost public understanding of depression as well as its prevention and therapies.

Internet surfers may find out causes and symptoms of depression as well as its therapies. Online check point and mind gym are also available for people to check their emotional health and learn ways to avoid depression.

In February, the website was named the most creative among the 10 award-winning websites in the Healthy Websites Contest.

Website copywriter Jessie Yau said the award means the website is able to grab public attention to alert them to the issue of depression.

"Being named creative means the website will be able to attract the public. This is in fact very important since our ultimate goal is to let more people better understand depression and to have their personal involvement in reading the material. I'm sure creativity is a key to effective communication and propaganda," she explained.

Website touching, sensational

Ms Yau noted the creative elements in the website, such as the extensive use of soft pictures, the design of a storyline, the flashing images and music, aim to make the website more sensational and more touching.

Her partner, Pasu Au-Yeung, the website producer, said the website took 12 months to set up and involved input from different sectors. The most difficult task encountered during the production was to strike a balance among all elements involved, such as music, computer technology, design, creativity and academic materials.

He noted the website's hit rate keeps going up, and it has received emails of commendation from around the globe.

The duo said some of their friends also have depression, and Hong Kong people have underestimated the problem.

Seek professional help

"Depression is as common as flu, and everybody may have it. But if you do not treat it, it may become serious and even lead to death. I think we have underestimated the number of people experiencing depression, but it is important that we need to treat it immediately and seek professional help," Ms Yau said.

Meanwhile, the centre plans to direct a series of suicide prevention strategies and study the relationship between depression and suicide.

"Our centre has been promoting evidence-based resources production trying to let the public know how and why it is so important to better understand depression," Ms Law said.

"We also want to directly advocate a series of suicide prevention strategies based on the public health approach so as to improve mental healthcare in the community."

Better integration the aim

"We always want to have a better integration among the centre's focuses, namely research, training and resources production. In the next few years, we will study the relationship between depression and suicide to have more understanding about how these two issues interplay with each other and how we can make good use of the existing resources to tackle the problem.

"After we get the findings, we can put it in our training curriculum, and also we can produce more resources with evident-based materials. These will be helpful for the community and the frontline professionals."

Publications relating to the website will be published in the middle of this year to help those without access to the Internet better understand depression.