By Lee Jon-young

This article was contributed by Daejeon Police Chief Chung Yong-geun to the Diplomacy Journal….Ed.

A 'red light' has been raised on the mental health of our society. As of 2019, there were 3.16 million people with mental illnesses in Korea, excluding dementia, an increase of 22% in five years. The National Mental Health Status Report (2021) estimated the socioeconomic cost of mental illness at 11.3 trillion won, which is expected to increase at an average annual rate of 10%.

On the other hand, the medical infrastructure for systematic management of the mentally ill is deteriorating. According to the Korean Academy of Neuropsychiatry, the number of beds in psychiatric hospitals nationwide has dropped from 67,000 in 2017 to 53,000 this year. This is because the emergency hospitalization process for mentally ill patients is a difficult and low-paying task.

This increase in the number of mentally ill people and the lack of infrastructure has put a lot of pressure on the police. In addition to the recent spate of suspicious crimes at Shinlim Station in Seoul and Seohyeon Station in Bundang that shocked the nation, the perpetrator of the murder of a teacher at a local high school in August were found to be mentally ill patients who had not received treatment in time.

To address this public anxiety, the police are working to systematically improve their response to the mentally ill, including operating a dedicated team for emergency hospitalization of the mentally ill, preemptively treating and counseling suspected mental patients, and strengthening their cooperation with local communities.

First, under the Mental Health and Welfare Act, police can request emergency hospitalization for up to three days with a doctor's consent if a mentally ill person is at risk of self-harm and there is an urgent need to prevent further harm. However, there is a problem that the longer the emergency hospitalization is delayed, the worse the condition of the mentally ill person who is not treated in a timely manner becomes, and the longer the delay is, the greater the gap in community policing.

To compensate for this problem, the police have a team dedicated to emergency hospitalization. When I was chief of the Chungbuk National Police, I operated a dedicated team under the name of 'Protective Measures Team', and when I was appointed as chief of Daejeon National Police, I further advanced the response system to the mentally ill by doubling the number of people dedicated to the existing 'Emergency Hospitalization Support Team' and changing it to a 24-hour work system.

In particular, preemptive treatment of the mentally ill before an incident occurs is also important. Timely treatment can prevent harm to innocent citizens. We continue to emphasize to our employees that even if they are not mentally ill, if they suspect a mental illness, they must refer them to a medical institution for treatment or consult with experts at a mental health welfare center with the consent of the person concerned or their guardian. 

We have also strengthened our cooperation with local communities. In close collaboration with Daejeon City and Chungnam National University Hospital, a mental emergency medical center will open at Chungnam National University Hospital next month, the first of its kind in the Chungcheongbuk-do region. 

This will secure two beds in the emergency room and provide face-to-face medical treatment by psychiatrists 24 hours a day, which is expected to greatly reduce the efforts and difficulties of field police officers who had to search for hospitals when dealing with reports of mentally ill patients at night or on holidays.

In fact, the problem of the mentally ill is not new. It is a long-standing problem that is difficult to solve through the efforts of any one organization alone. Fortunately, as the management of the mentally ill has become a national social concern, the government has reviewed the entire mental health policy, systematizing the entire process from management to prevention and early detection, treatment, rehabilitation, and return to normal life. 

It also announced that it would hasten the expansion of related infrastructure. This time, it seems that all relevant government departments will gather their wisdom and willpower to come up with effective solutions.

Finally, efforts should also be made to improve social prejudice against people with mental illness. People with mental illnesses say that the stigma of being labeled as a potential criminal or dangerous person makes them reluctant to seek treatment. It is time to change the perception that people with mental illness are part of society and can live alongside the rest of us if they are treated and managed well.

It is said that the most important health in the world is mental health. I envision a scenario in which a mentally ill person receives the necessary treatment and protection from society, regains his or her mental health and lives a normal, everyday life with his or her neighbors. This is the first step in securing the safety of our society and its people.