(123rf)

Only 12 percent of patients diagnosed with severe mental illness use government-provided mental health care services, data showed Tuesday.

According to statistics released by the National Mental Health Center, the number of people registered at government-run mental health centers and who accessed services accounted for 12.1 percent of 651,813 patients diagnosed with severe mental illnesses as of the end of 2021.

Severely mentally ill patients ever treated at least once for schizophrenia, delusional disorder, bipolar disorder and severe depressive disorder are all subject to register programs operated by 260 mental health centers nationwide.

The government provides various mental health care services through these 260 centers, including home visits, phone counseling and mental rehabilitation training. The country manages them through those centers, since they can harm themselves or commit crimes if not thoroughly cared for.

"Hospitals and community health centers guide those patients to receive mental health services through those mental health centers," an official from the Health Ministry said. However, critics point out that the utilization rate is low due to a lack of public awareness and publicity, which should be increased.

Since mental health centers do not have any legal authority to provide mental care services to patients forcibly, they only offer services to those who want them.

The Korean Neuropsychiatric Association said in a statement on Sunday that the state should be more responsible for the treatment and care of severely mentally ill patients.

“Currently, all mental health centers can do is persuade patients to receive proper treatment and services. But the state should take more responsibility for the treatment of patients with severe mental illness that is difficult for the patients’ families to handle.”

Meanwhile, both the suspect who committed a mass stabbing rampage at Seohyeon Station in Bundang, Gyeonggi Province on Thursday and another who stabbed a teacher at a high school in Daejeon on Friday had been diagnosed with schizophrenia, but had stopped treatment.