{
  "id": 14346898,
  "title": "Spirit of Hong Kong Awards: mental health advocate who saved suicidal teen",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/14/spirit-of-hong-kong-awards-mental-health-advocate-who-saved-suicidal",
  "topic": "health",
  "section": "Health & Medicine",
  "published": "2026-10-14T02:15:06.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "South China Morning Post",
    "slug": "south-china-morning-post",
    "url": "https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3370703/spirit-hong-kong-awards-mental-health-advocate-who-saved-suicidal-teen"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Mental health advocate Minal Mahtani, founder of OCD & Anxiety Support Hong Kong, has been named a finalist for the community category in the Spirit of Hong Kong Awards. Mahtani's work involves running monthly peer-support groups and offering affordable counselling, as well as yoga, art therapy, and sound healing. She believes that better referrals between hospitals, community mental health services, and specialist charities could help people receive timely support before their conditions worsen. OCD & Anxiety Support Hong Kong runs a \"warm hug\" support system, providing a safe, confidential, and non-judgmental space for individuals of all backgrounds to feel understood. Mahtani started her support group meetings in 2014 after losing a cousin to suicide and has since helped over 30,000 people, including many who joined online during the Covid-19 pandemic. Despite the challenges, she is pleased to see increasing openness about mental health issues in Hong Kong. In 2015, Mahtani initiated a World Mental Health Day campaign with green ribbons, which has since grown to involve 40-50 volunteers annually. Her work has also allowed her to assist people in acute distress, such as when she helped a mother persuade her 14-year-old suicidal son to step away from a ledge. Mahtani emphasizes the importance of community support and encourages people to share their experiences to create a more healing environment.",
  "summary": "Hongkongers can be struggling with severe mental health problems but still not be considered urgent cases, according to mental health advocate Minal Mahtani, who wants community groups to play a bigger role before individual cases reach crisis point. Mahtani, founder of OCD & Anxiety Support Hong Kong, said better referrals between hospitals, community mental health services and specialist…",
  "key_points": [
    "Minal Mahtani, OCD & Anxiety Support Hong Kong founder, finalist for Spirit of Hong Kong Awards",
    "Runs monthly peer-support groups, offers affordable counseling, yoga, art therapy, and sound healing",
    "Saved suicidal 14-year-old son by persuading mother to step away from ledge"
  ],
  "editors_take": "Recognizing grassroots mental health advocacy highlights the critical role community-led support systems play in filling gaps between hospital services and individual needs within the Hong Kong healthcare landscape.",
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "South China Morning Post - Hong Kong",
        "title": "Spirit of Hong Kong Awards: mental health advocate who saved suicidal teen",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/14/spirit-of-hong-kong-awards-mental-health-advocate-who-saved-suicidal-14350782",
        "published": "2026-10-14T02:15:06.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}