A WHOPPING 61% of respondents from Malaysia believe it was stressful to live here, according to a survey from Milieu Insight, in partnership with Calm Collective on mental health and stress.
Conducted in six Southeast Asia nations, the survey of 1,000 respondents was conducted to look at stress in the region and gather their sentiments towards stress and mental health; and their views on seeking help.
If there is any relief, the 61% places Malaysia in the third place; with Singapore (81%) and the Philippines (78%) topping the list. Thailand (59%), Indonesia (51%) and last, Vietnam (42%) come after Malaysia.
‘’COVID-19 has changed our lives. While people deal with fundamental changes to their work, family life and social interactions, it’s not surprising that the level of stress is high across the region’’, Milieu Insight co-founder cum CEO Gerald Ang said.
He also said that respondents were asked how often they found themselves in stressful situations, and the results were surprising as it showed that people have absorbed stress as a “common worry”.
“In Singapore, despite 81% saying that it is stressful to live there, only 34% report facing stressful situations almost always or often, similar to most of the countries except for the Philippines (56%).
“What could be the reasons behind this disparity? We have an inkling that this could be because of the normalisation of stress, where stressors of everyday life are downplayed as common worries.”
Stress at “healthy levels” can be beneficial
There are two different types of stress – negative stress (for example, getting retrenched) and positive stress (like taking up a new role at your workplace). A good amount of stress pushes us to grow, and the stress of the process is juxtaposed to the rewards of the outcome, allowing us to better savour the fruits of our labour, the report indicated.
However, a disturbing trend is that people do not seek help when faced with overwhelming stress, primarily because they do not want to burden others around them, and they do not know what others can do to help them.
In addition, stress seems to be perceived as a personal problem, with the assumption that sheer willpower can help one to handle it by themselves.
Another fact uncovered by the survey is that most people are not told there is no shame in getting help. For that reason, fear of seeking help at work persists.
Aside from Vietnam and Malaysia, 53% in Singapore and close to half of the respondents in Indonesia (49%), Thailand (49%) and the Philippines (46%) said that they will seek professional help only after their stress gets overwhelming.
Burnout and even “death by overwork” were major issues long before the coronavirus arrived.
Despite that, stress still seems to be viewed primarily as a personal problem that should be handled alone, and many regarding it as a feeling that will just get better with time.
Beyond tackling stress, the survey also looked at the socio-cultural attitudes towards seeking help at work among employed respondents. – Oct 31, 2021
