Doctor warns against stigma after Wong Tai Sin attack
HK01 · 1 SOURCESabout 1 hour ago2 MIN
Summary
A psychiatrist has urged the public not to stigmatise people with mental illness after the Wong Tai Sin Upper Estate stabbing, saying only a small number of cases escalate into extreme violence. He said patients troubled by psychosis, depression, anxiety or insomnia may become unusually sensitive to noise, which can feed delusions, anger and sleep loss.
Key Points
- Psychiatrist Mak Wing-kit said patients with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders, depression, anxiety or insomnia may focus intensely on noise and misread it as targeted harassment.
- He said persecutory and referential delusions can make sufferers believe neighbours are deliberately creating sounds, worsening emotion, sleep and psychiatric symptoms in a vicious cycle.
- The case happened at about 7am on August 7 at Chiu Sin House, Wong Tai Sin Upper Estate, where a 25-year-old man surnamed Lam was found wounded in a lift.
- About seven minutes later, security reported a 46-year-old man surnamed Lau lying outside the building after an apparent fall; he had a record of mental illness and died at scene.
- Police believe Lau had planned the attack after hearing a shutter gate, waited outside the lift with a kitchen knife in a shopping bag, and later a bloodstained knife and psychiatric follow-up papers were found in his flat.
Why It Matters
Mak said neighbour noise disputes are common, especially in densely packed public housing blocks with thinner walls, and warning signs such as fixation, agitation and threats should not be ignored. He said families, healthcare workers and Housing Department staff should keep closer watch even after a transfer is approved, because relocation alone may not resolve an underlying psychiatric condition.