S. Korea to conduct biennial mental health checkup for youth

The South Korean government said Thursday that it has decided to administer a regular mental health checkup for those aged between 20 and 34, starting next year as part of the state-run national health examination program.

According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, state health examination committee members conducted a meeting and agreed to expand the mental health checkup program. As part of the national health checkup program run by the National Health Insurance Service, the current program provides a mental health exam once every 10 years. Young Koreans will now have access to an assessment once every two years.

"Only 12.1 percent of the Koreans and 16.2 percent of young Koreans use mental health services. ... By reducing the period between tests, we seek to reduce the untreated period for mental illness and allow a prompt diagnosis and treatment after the initial symptoms," the ministry said.

In addition to the existing exams for depression, the national checkup will include testing for early stages of other mental diseases to ensure that mental conditions are treated in their early stages.

Those who display symptoms will be provided access to related medical health institutes by the ministry for further diagnosis. The ministry will also provide means for consistent treatment and management of those with mental conditions.

Reports have indicated a substantial increase in mental health issues among the young population. A January report by the state-run Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service showed that just over a million people were treated for depression in 2022, marking the first time the figure surpassed the million mark.

What was more significant was how rapidly the number of young mental patients grew. In 2017, patients in their 20s and 30s accounted for 23.4 percent of the 680,000 mental patients. This percentage rose to 35.9 percent in 2022, with the actual number of patients more than doubling from 159,000 to 350,000.