Ten-year-old Karen (not her real name) sits next to her father in the Castle Peak Hospital activity room. The two smile and chat about her day at school and her friends.
A few years ago, it was quite a different story. That was when Karen's father started talking to himself and behaving strangely. As a result, the frightened youngster often hid in the toilet and cried.
The turnaround is due to an innovative programme at the hospital aimed at children of mentally ill parents. Since 2006, the Youth Ambassador Programme has counselled and supported about 400 children aged between five and 16.
The hospital's nurse consultant, Jolene Mui Hang-chun, said emotional problems were common in children of mentally ill patients.
'These children see their parents' psychotic symptoms and behaviour - such as delusion, talking to themselves or attempts to commit suicide - and because they do not understand it, they are scared,' Mui said. 'And when their parents are admitted to hospital, the children also suffer separation anxiety. The situation is even worse if both the children's parents are mentally ill.'
The hospital team recently commissioned Chinese University to survey children whose parents suffered mental illness, and found they had high levels of stress. They also had low self-esteem and many did not want their friends to know about their parent's condition.
The study showed that children had better relationships with their parents and lower stress levels after they joined the programme and learned more about mental illnesses.
