By Lim Min Yi – March 1, 2024
Sungai Long: The five interviewees obtained mental health information in various ways,
however, they agreed that they received limited information about mental health from
the government and relevant authorities. Therefore, they all agreed that the government should provide more information on mental health.
According to the National Health and Morbidity Survey 2022 showed that the mental
health issues among teenagers is concerning, with them showing a high rate of
depression, suicidal tendencies, and suicide attempts. Hence, National Hotline for
Mental Health Crises and Suicide Prevention and Talian Heal 15555 is provided for
public to seek help.
Psychological assistance is inaccessible.
Yuki Mok Ling Long (aged 21, student) thinks the hotlines and talks should be improve.
“The hotline of the psychological association is not popularized, even I tried to call it,
and no one answered for more than an hour.”, stated by Yuki Mok Ling Long.
She believes people are failed to find channels to get information about mental illness, even though they may be aware of their problems and willing to seek help.
She claims that this is a neglect of needs in mental health care. Especially the students’ needs of counselling or information is unaware.
For example, it was stressful in secondary school, but she never saw any talks organized by the government or healthcare professionals when she was in secondary school.
Despite this, she believes that society is now becoming more tolerant of people with mental illness. News reports nowadays are more respectful of patients, whereas in the past they might have magnified patients' illnesses for the purpose of attracting attention.
For people who are facing mental health issues but have no idea what to do, she encourages that they can try to stay with friends or family first. Because it may be possible to express emotions better with someone close to you.
“I think companionship really does solve a lot of problems.”, she said. So, she will force herself to hang out with friends when she was ruminating.
Creative advocacy knowledge will be appealing.
Wong Xiao You suggests creative campaigns can help bring more attention to mental illnesses.
Wong Xiao You (aged 21, student) thinks there is a certain prejudice against people with mental illnesses. "Because there are some illnesses that can be seen obviously different with others, so they will have some prejudice or stereotypes about those differences.", she said,
She feels that the most common would be the tendency to distance or ignore the victims. This caused the patient being afraid to seek help because they are unwilling to admit that they are different, even though they doubt that they have a mental issue, or it is visible from the appearance or behaviour.
Meanwhile, she stated that people with mental problem should seek help from professionals. And even she did not know much about the treatment of mental illness, she will give them verbal support and persuade them to receive professional help.
As a basketball player, she has seen children with autism improve after being involved in basketball. She assumed that this was because playing group sports can cheer people up.
She suggests that the government can use creative ways to popularise the knowledge, as interesting content can draw people's attention.
The lack of mental health information from government.
Chew Tze Xuan learned about accessing medical assistance due to her relative suffered with anorexia.
Chew Tze Xuan (aged 21, student) indicated that she rarely gets information about mental illness from government, most is from social media and school or others’ experiences.
Lim Min Hui indicates that her friends who know about mental illness still have no idea where they can go for medical treatment.
Similarly, Lim Min Hui (aged 28, admin) facing the same issues. She gains mental health information from the social media or TV. For example, a character with mental illness in a TV drama, or a health program may have a related propaganda.
In their opinion, the government, hospitals, or traditional media are not enough for the popularization of mental illnesses, and there is a necessity to promote and disseminate knowledge for the public.
Lim Min Hui believes that society is prejudiced against people with mental illness, especially the older generation. Because they perceive these patients as different from ordinary people, they may alienate or ridicule them.
"My friend used to suffer from depression, she has some knowledge about mental illnesses and went to see a psychiatrist when she realized it", however, her friend remained unsure of the availability of hospitals for diagnosis at the beginning.
Lack of information leads to patients feeling helpless
Tan Zi Ying thinks there is even less information about mental illness than there is about animal rescue.
Tan Zi Ying (aged 22, assistant accountant) finds that she has seen a lot of helplines on social media, but never one for mental illness.
She believes that people with mental illness are greatly neglected. "For example, when we go to a clinic, there are adverts posted about not smoking or uterine cancer, but adverts for mental illnesses are almost invisible.”, she claims.
Meanwhile, she also believes that some people will avoid patients of mental illnesses and considered they are crazy.
For people to gain knowledge, she thinks that more popularization is necessary. Still, she does not even know how to promote it because there is so little information available.
Her friend suffers from depression but was unaware of where to seek medical help in the first place. "So, she was quite helpless, I could feel it", she said.
"She went to a clinic and the doctor in the clinic told her that there was no such service and advised her to go to a big hospital to have a service for mental illness." She states that she would not have known where to get treated if her friend had not told her.
References
Institutes of Public Health. (2022). National Health and Morbidity Survey 2022: Adolescent Health Survey 2022. https://iku.gov.my/images/nhms- 2022/1a_Infografic_AHS_BI_15062023.pdf
National Hotline for Mental Health Crises and Suicide Prevention | NAMI: National Alliance on Mental Illness. (n.d.). National Alliance on Mental Illness.
Retrieved April 16, 2024, from https://www.nami.org/Advocacy/Policy- Priorities/Responding-to-Crises/National-Hotline-for-Mental-Health-Crises- and-Suicide-Prevention
Malik, N. A., & Malik, N. A. (2022, November 25). TALIAN HEAL 15555. Laman Web MKN. https://www.mkn.gov.my/web/ms/2022/11/25/talian-heal-15555/
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