Very interesting feature last week in the Christian Science Monitor about the growth in China's mental health services industry. Apparently the supply of psychotherapists and counselors can not keep up with demand.

The next question is obvious: is this a product of new stresses on people or changing attitudes towards seeking help for mental problems?

No definitive answer to that, although the article generally goes along with the "society is moving so fast and people are confused" sort of theme that is sometimes used to explain a spike in the use of mental health services.

I'm not so convinced. Sure, there are new stresses on people: rapid industrialization, unemployment, travel away from one's home town, etc. On the other hand, the people that are able to pay for these mental health services are the ones who are doing quite well under the new system. In my usual cold-hearted lawyer fashion, I have traditionally not had much sympathy for unhappy rich people.

I remember seeing lots of people in therapy back in LA when I was growing up, particularly in the late 70s when all of this became kind of a fad. Most of these people had decent, albeit boring, lives – owned a house, had kids, solid jobs, etc. And yet they were profoundly unhappy. The poorer folks in the next town over had it a lot worse, but of course they couldn't afford therapy at $100/hour. Yeah, I'm a bit cynical.

If I had to guess, I would say that the increase over here has a variety of causes. All of that being said, it is nice to see that the mental health services industry is opening up, that the negative stigma is being replaced with acceptance, and that at least some of the people that really need help are now able to get it. I suspect the next great mental health challenge will be expanding services to lower income people and including this in health insurance.