Protest-hit HK sees surge in depression, PTSD: study

Nearly one in three adults in Hong Kong reported symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder during months of often violent social unrest in the city, according to a study published in The Lancet medical journal yesterday. And around one in 10 had symptoms of probable depression, figures comparable to those seen in areas of armed conflict or following terrorist attacks, the decade-long study led by researchers from the University of Hong Kong found. Prevalence of PTSD symptoms was six times higher than after the last major pro-democracy "Occupy" protests in 2014, rising from about five percent in March 2015 to almost 32 percent in September-November 2019.