Scrapbook Draft

Hello! Welcome to our mental health journal for youth by youth. We are four Hands-on Hong Kong ambassadors working alongside a core team of student designers, artists and researchers to produce a youth mental health journal. According to an article by the Hong Kong Mental Health Youth Conference, within the local Hong Kong population 67% of youth survey respondents were feeling lost about the future whilst 70% presented moderate signs to severe depression. Despite such prominent numbers, many times imperative conversations regarding mental health are obstructed by a stigma that confronts mental health with a negative attitude. Many people don’t confront mental health as a serious illness instead attribute such an inevitable disorder with the person themselves. Or, are simply afraid to experience “mental health” due to its pre conditioned associations with being “crazy” or the chinese term “神經病”. Further, we noticed that the circumstances induced by the pandemic have had a large impact on youth mental health. This is due to the lack of Individualized academic and social support by peer networks and teachers. Or the limited environment youth are exposed to because of quarantine. Students aged 18-24 completed a survey between February and July of 2020. 46% reported symptoms of PTSD and 50% reported symptoms of depression. The impermanence and turbulence of school schedules have caused sudden shifts in students' daily routine, which in turn affects their eating, sleeping, socialising and exercising habits. Thereby decreasing their overall mental health. Even if mental health may not be something you are struggling with, we hope this journal is able to help you relax and de-stress from school. Something we have discovered during our research and experienced first hand is how stress in youth is often caused by a lack of preparation and planning. Hence, the journal includes many organizational layouts that will help you organise your activities and plan ahead. We hope you enjoy it! Alicia, Shriya, Sarah and Arjun Credits to our illustrators: Chloe Yoo, Kadence Wong, Hal Tsang, Audrey Yip and Shriya Srinivasan