THE Government must compel all government-linked companies (GLCs) and key government agencies to conduct mental health screenings and regular awareness campaigns to address the worsening state of mental health disorders and suicides in the country.
Parti Bangsa Malaysia (PBM) vice president Dr Shatish Kumar said that this is to set the tone for more corporations and agencies to follow the lead in de-stigmatising the disorder and make mental health more accessible to employees.
“The agencies should get the help of mental health specialists to train the human resource units in their respective agencies to screen for mental health issues among employees through questionnaires, screening tools and counselling,” he added.
“This would help to identify the individuals vulnerable to mental health disorders like anxiety and depression at an early stage and timely referrals can be made.”
Towards this end, Dr Shatish said that the Government should also consider giving tax incentives for companies to conduct mental health screenings and campaigns at the workplace.
“In the long run, the Government should make it a requirement for all public-listed companies (PLCs) to conduct mental health screenings at regular intervals by mental health professionals while encouraging non-listed companies to do the same,” he said, adding that the same should apply to government agencies with a large number of staff.
From 2016 to 2021, statistics revealed that there has been a 61.7% increase in suicide attempts where a majority of cases involved men aged between 19 and 40.
According to reports, the leading cause identified in 2021 was emotional pressure while other reasons include mental illness, financial constraints, drug abuse and illness.
What is more shocking is that in 2021, there were 21 cases involving adolescents aged 18 and below.
Meanwhile, the Malaysian Psychiatric Association recently revealed that mental illness together with suicide have multiple contributing factors that tend to correlate and produce the illness or cause suicide and suicidal thoughts.
“Admitting that one is suffering from depression is still seen as a stigma in Malaysia and this is something we should all work on eradicating,” commented Dr Shatish.
“There is nothing to be ashamed of if one is suffering from depression as this, like many other diseases, can be treated and overcome.”
Dr Shatish further noted that community-based organisations and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) should also be made more visible and useful in terms of advocacy and support for people suffering from mental illness.
“Anybody suffering from mental health issues should have access to proper assessments and most importantly, they should not be judged as being weak when trying to seek help,” he remarked.
Furthermore, the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have left many in need of urgent help and as such a large number of people are silently suffering from depression..
This is evident from the number of calls received by Befrienders Kuala Lumpur which was a total of 20,575 from January to June 2021 as compared to 32,710 from January to December 2020.
“As Malaysians it is our duty to reach out to each other and help in every way we can. Depression is real and it can lead to severe consequences if left unchecked,” Dr Shatish said.
“As such we urge the Government to take the lead in addressing the worsening state of suicides in the country.” – June 2, 2022
