■全球精神病患者正持續上升，例如已故的光纖之父高錕（右）就是5,000萬罹患認知障礙症患者之一。 資料圖片【原文】下文摘錄自香港《文匯報》2018年10月11日報道︰
來自全球的28名精神病學（psychiatry）、公共衛生學（public health）及神經科學（neuroscience）專家，早前接受醫學期刊《刺針》（Lancet）委託進行調查，前日發表研究報告，指出全球精神病（mental health disorder）患者正持續上升，警告如不制訂措施應對，將對社會帶來嚴重影響，估計在2010年至2030年間，全球經濟合共損失16萬億美元（約125萬億港元）。報告同時披露，精神病患者人權（human right）常受侵犯，例如被鐵鍊鎖在家中或禁閉（imprisonment），不少病人更遭受虐待（torture）或被迫流落街頭。
世界衛生組織（WHO）估計，全球約有3億人患有抑鬱症（depression），5,000萬人罹患認知障礙症（dementia），精神分裂症（schizophrenia）及躁鬱症（bipolar disorder）患者，則分別約有2,300萬及6,000萬。美國哈佛醫學院（Harvard Medical School）教授帕特爾（Chirag J Patel）形容情況「極嚴峻（bleak）」，批評過去25年來，受人口老化（ageing）、兒童進入青春期（adolescence）人數上升等因素影響，精神病個案急劇上升，但各國未有投放足夠資源解決問題。他強調精神病奪去不少人性命，尤其在年輕人方面，精神病造成的死亡人數更超過其他原因。
報告指出，在中國及印度（India）這兩個合共佔全球1/3人口的國家，逾80%精神病患者未有尋求治療（treatment），即使求診，院方提供的治療質素亦欠佳。報告估計，假如各國妥善治療精神病患者，每年整體死亡人數可減少達1,350萬人。
研究報告亦發現，不少國家的國民患上抑鬱症、焦慮症（anxiety）、精神分裂症等精神疾病後，會被禁閉於家中、福音營及治療中心（treatment centre），不少病人更被鐵鍊鎖起，人權受到侵犯。即使患者未被限制自由，他們亦可能因缺乏足夠醫療照顧，受病情困擾下自殺。南非（South Africa）前年曾停止資助一間精神病患者院舍（nursing home），病人被迫入住無持牌的（unlicensed）社區設施，結果導致逾140人死亡。
《刺針》總編輯霍頓（Richard Horton）形容，報告提及的情況「令人震驚和可恥（shameful）」，強調報告旨在呼籲在治療精神病患者時，需確保患者基本人權，同時促請社會關懷病人，社區醫護人員、神職人員（clergy）或患者朋友，可透過探望患者及與他們傾談（talking therapy），緩和患者病情，而非只由醫生處理。
Mental health disorder cost gobal economy 125 trillion
【譯文】28 global specialists in psychiatry, public health and neuroscience were commissioned by the internationally renowned medical journal Lancet to carry out an investigation and publish a report recently, saying that mental health disorders are on the rise worldwide and could cause lasting harm to the global communities if the issues are not properly addressed. It is estimated that it could cost the global economy up to US$16 trillion （approximately HK$125 trillion） between 2010 and 2030. The report also revealed that people with common mental disorders often suffer from human rights violations including shackling, imprisonment, torture and homelessness.
The World Health Organization （WHO） estimates that around 300 million people worldwide have depression and 50 million suffer from dementia. While schizophrenia and bipolar disorder are estimated to affect 23 million and 60 million people respectively. Chirag J Patel, a professor at the U.S. Harvard Medical School described "the situation is extremely bleak", criticizing that mental health issues had been on the rise dramatically worldwide in the past 25 years due to societies ageing and more children growing into adolescence, but most countries were not investing enough to tackle the problem. He stressed that mental illness has taken many lives and no other health condition has caused deaths as many as mental disorder has among youngsters.
The report added that in China and India, which collectively account for one-third of the world's population, over 80% of the patients with mental illness do not receive appropriate treatments or even if they do, high-quality treatments are rarely accessible. It is estimated that the number of deaths per year in the global communities can be reduced by 13.5 million if the patients are to be treated properly.
The study also discovered that many patients suffering from depression, anxiety, schizophrenia and other mental illnesses have been confined to their homes, gospel camps and treatment centres, with some even being locked up by chains, whose fundamental human rights are severely deprived of. Even though they may not be restricted on personal freedom, they may still commit suicide due to insufficiency of medical attention and care. South Africa had experienced an unfortunate case a year ago that the government had suspended its funding to a nursing home for mentally ill patients and they were eventually forced to stay in unlicensed care centres, resulting in more than 140 deaths.
Richard Horton, the editor-in-chief of the medical journal Lancet, described the current situation as "shameful and shocking", saying that the report aimed to call for a human rights-based approach for taking care of people with mental health conditions, as well as recommend a community-based care for the patients, with treatments such as talking therapies being offered not only by medical professionals but also by community health workers, clergy and peers.■龐嘉儀
Questions
1. 研究認為全球有多少人在一生中患有某種程度的精神疾病？
2. 精神疾病主要分為哪兩大類別？
3. 輕型精神疾病有哪些例子？
4. 重型精神疾病有哪些例子？
5. 遺傳學認為，若父母雙方都患有精神疾病，子女得病機率約為多少？
Answer
1. 三分一人口
2. 輕型精神疾病（minor mental disorder）與重型精神疾病（major mental disorder）
3. 輕鬱症（dysthymia）、強迫症（obsessive-compulsive disorder）、創傷後遺症（post-traumatic stress disorder）等
4. 精神分裂症（schizophrenia）（又稱思覺失調症）
5. 40%