On July 11, 2013, Beijing News reported that, according to statistics from China’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention, there are over 100 million people who suffer from various forms of mental illnesses. Over 16 million of them have severe mental illness, meaning one in every 100 has severe mental illness. For treatment, two percent of the 16 million take medicine, while less than 10 percent receive in-patient treatment. Reports indicate that about 10 percent show an inclination to commit violence. It is common for family members to chain these people in a cage at home. In Hebei Province alone, the number of people “living in a cage” has reached 100,000.
“There is ‘little’ assistance available for this group. China has only 20,500 registered psychiatrists and 30,000 nurses. … They face tremendous work and psychological pressure. … The medical infrastructure that health care relies on also seems ‘thin.’ Even in Beijing with its top medical facilities, a person has to wait up to six months for a bed in Hui Long Guan Hospital, which specializes in psychiatric treatment.”
Source: Beijing News, July 11, 2013
http://www.bjnews.com.cn/feature/2013/07/11/272800.html