Health on Our Minds

May marks Mental Health Awareness Month in May. We spoke to Hasanal LythgoeZafrullah, founder of Mindish, Hong Kong’s new mental health clinic, and Dr Kimberley Carder, a clinical psychologist at MindnLife, about the benefits of a preventative therapy model

- Doris Lam

How are you, really?

If you’re not feeling your best right now, you’re not alone. In January, Hong Kong imposed the harshest social distancing rules that the city’s ever seen to battle the surge of Omicron cases. As the city strove to achieve zero-Covid through strict isolation, flight bans and beach closures, residents’ mental health declined— and rapidly, too.

At the peak of Hong Kong’s mental health crisis, Hasanal Lythgoe-Zafrullah unveiled Mindish, a members-only clinic. With stylish decor and plenty of greenery and sunlight, it resembles a chic members’ club-like Soho House or Rosewood’s Carlyle & Co. Inside, you’ll find a sitting area with custom-made furniture, a small library section with a variety of self-help and inspirational books, several therapy rooms and two spacious meditation rooms.

“We’re not a yoga studio; we’re not a meditation studio. We’re also not a mental health clinic in the traditional sense,” LythgoeZafrullah tells me during our video call.

The founder, who was born in Hong Kong to Sri Lankan parents, began his own healing journey just a few years ago. During his own search for the right therapist, he realised how difficult it was to find someone he could click with. It was then that the idea for Mindish was born, as he vowed to find a simpler way to help people heal. Rather than seeing therapy as an emergency service, Mindish aims to help people take regular care of their mental health.