Xiao Yuhan recalled the first time she was employed as a doctor, responsible for providing medical treatments and services to patients living with mental illnesses in a community of Beijing's Haidian district.

"I was a little bit scared when I knew that I would have to face people suffering from psychiatric problems," said Xiao.

However, since becoming a physician at the Department of Prevention and Healthcare of Haidian Maternal and Child Health Hospital, she has overcome her fears.

"The best rehabilitation therapy for psychiatric patients is to bring them back to society where they can develop their professional and social abilities, but this remains difficult to achieve," Xiao explained.

"The stigma imposed on those who fall victim to psychiatric problems makes people reluctant to receive the assistance because they feel ashamed of their condition," the doctor continued.

According Xiao, isolation accelerates the adverse of psychiatric diseases, like paranoid schizophrenia.

It is estimated that 9.32% of China's nearly 1.4 billion citizens are affected by mental illnesses. The Mental Health Law, ratified in 2013 , has regulated diagnoses, medical treatments and rehabilitation processes for psychiatric patients and encouraged a host of services dedicated to their recoveries.

Over the past few years, many community-based healthcare services have offered free medicines for permanently registered local residents living with mental illnesses. The free pharmaceuticals include antipsychotic drugs, mood stabilizers and side-effect prevention medicines. Young patients below 18 can access many medicines free of charge, with costs covered by the fiscal revenues of district governments.

Medicines play a critical role in keeping patients from relapsing into illness, so long as they take a certain dose on a daily basis at the advice of their doctors.

According to Xiao, local medical staff also train psychiatric patients to understand the importance of regularly intaking medicine.

"We hope that they can develop a strong awareness of taking medicines on time and we encourage them to learn about their diseases in the hope that they can notice early symptoms," she expounded.

In Xiao's community, a local disabled persons' federation has organized many rehabilitation services, such as, musical therapy, handcraft exercises and psychological consultation in the hope that patients and their caretakers can enjoy social lives.

"Family care usually contributes around 70% to an individual's recovery," Xiao said. 

To improve rehabilitation services, the community has issued brochures to patients' families in an attempt to help them empower patients to lead decent lives. There are also regular lectures to train family members.

"We make great efforts to encourage our patients to rejoin society and alleviate the financial burden and emotional stress of their families," Xiao said.

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