It is expected to take three years but preliminary findings show the region's mental health services to be inadequate.
Only 1% of Hong Kong residents are currently receiving mental health treatment but the need is thought to be far higher.
In 1997 Hong Kong transferred from a British colony to a region with special status under Chinese rule.
Caught between the traditions of Chinese culture and the westernising influence of 137 years of British rule, the city has experienced dramatic political, social and economic change leaving some of its most vulnerable citizens out in the cold.
Linda Lam is Chief Editor of the Hong Kong Journal of Psychiatry. She believes that the provision of mental health services in the city is way below need.
"We don't have figures for the prevalence of most psychological disorders in Hong Kong but like most developed cities there are estimates that anxiety and depressive disorders would be over 10%.
"If we project this to Hong Kong then our mental health needs would be tremendous."
It is widely assumed among mental health professionals in Hong Kong that mental illness is vastly under-diagnosed.
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