More than 70 percent of the mentally ill in Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong Province, have not received regular treatment, local media reported on Thursday.

"The main problem is that most of the mentally ill and their family members feel ashamed and refuse to see doctors," Ning Yuping, president of Guangzhou hospital of mental diseases, told the Guangzhou Daily.

"The costly medical fee is another problem," she said.

Ning said many mental illnesses can be treated, enabling patients to return to study or work after they recover.

She urged those who suffer from mental illness to seek professional help.

"Meanwhile, society should not discriminate against the mentally ill," she said.

Official statistics show Guangzhou has more than 46,000 registered mental patients.

Experts have estimated that Guangzhou actually has at least 60,000 who suffer from mental illness, though less than 30 percent of them receive regular treatment, the report said.

The difference between the two figures on the size of the mentally ill population in Guangzhou is due to the number of those who are mentally ill but refuse to register with the relevant departments.

In Guangdong Province, which has a population of 110 million, the number of those who suffer from some form of mental illness may be more than 1 million, experts said.

In China, fees for treating mental illness are the most expensive, surpassing those for tumors and cardiovascular diseases. By 2020, fees for the treatment of mental illness may also account for more than 25 percent of total medical fees, experts have predicted.

Mental illness is an umbrella term for a wide range of ailments. However, the top three major mental illnesses in the country are schizophrenia, Alzheimer's disease and depression.

"Because of the expensive medical fees, most of the city's mental patients take medicine only when they fall ill," Ning said.

Zhou Yongdi, director of the president's office of Guangzhou Baiyun district hospital of mental diseases, said medical fees for treating tumors and cardiovascular diseases actually cannot be compared with those for treating mental illnesses, despite patients incurring expensive surgical charges, because it usually takes a long time to treat mental illness.

"Electric shock therapy, which is sometimes used to treat mental illness, costs about 3,000 yuan (US$439) for a single application," Zhou said.

That is equal to the monthly income of a local worker, he added.

A Guangzhou resident, surnamed Liang, said he has become heavily in debt since his daughter was diagnosed with a mental illness three years ago.

"A course of treatment that only lasts a month costs about 10,000 yuan," said Liang, who now has to seek financial support from the local government to continue his daughter's treatment.

The increasing number of people with mental illnesses has raised concern on both sides of the medical divide.

While some who suffer from mental illness are locked up at home by their families, most people afflicted by mental illness are able to freely stroll about in local communities and on streets, which occasionally poses a threat to the public, Ning said.

Some of the city's injury and even homicide cases have been reported as havn't been caused by people suffering from mental illness.

Chen Yunqi, a local white-collar worker, said the relevant government departments of health and civil affairs should do more to help the large number of people with mental illness.

"It is not good news that many mentally ill people stroll in the city's public spaces and on its streets. They not only threaten public security, but also damage the city's image," he said.

(China Daily May 14, 2010)