اولین قانون سلامت روانی چین

The first mental health law of China entered into effect on May 1, 2013. This was the biggest event in the mental health field in China. The present review introduces its legislative process, its main idea, and the principle and essence of formulating this mental health law. Current problems of the law and possible countermeasures are also discussed.

It has been estimated that in China 173 million people are suffering from diagnosable psychiatric disorders (Phillips et al., 2009). Meanwhile, by the end of 2010, China had only 757 mental health facilities and approximately 20,480 psychiatrists, and as known to be lacking in prevention and rehabilitation of mental disorders (Liu et al., 2013). During past decades, there have been some concerns regarding the stigma of mental illness and human rights violations in psychiatric hospitals in China, particularly in reference to involuntary admission. For several years, local mental health regulations had already been adopted and implemented in some big Chinese cities, such as Beijing, Shanghai, Wuhan, etc. However, China is characterized by the great diversity across the country in terms of population density, culture, geographic features, language and socioeconomic development. Therefore, the Chinese government had composing a national law for mental health about 30 years ago.