Writing for Southeast Asia Globe, Denise Hruby reported how the mentally ill in many rural areas of Cambodia are being treated:

…the mentally ill are still treated by traditional healers, who aim to drive out bad spirits by burning the skin, or by the untrained staff of one-room health clinics who prescribe everything from pain-relief tablets to cough syrup.

According to government spokesperson Phay Siphan, mental health is not a priority:

The government prioritises maternal health and malaria. For mental health, I know that other governments have the money to subsidise that, but we are poor.