KUCHING: There are people who still find it difficult to differentiate between mental health and mental illness, said Sarawak Mental Health Association president Dr Ismail Drahman.
Mental health refers to a person’s emotional, psychological and social well-being which affects how they think, feel and act. It also determines how they handle stress and make choices.
Mental illness, on the other hand, refers to a wide range of mental health conditions such as depression, schizophrenia, anxiety disorders and more.
“Some would understand if they ever suffer from mental health conditions. They must know where to get help. Don’t wait until the illness worsens, by then it would be too late,” said Dr Ismail.
He pointed out that in Malaysia, the stigma surrounding mental illness remains very high and suicide is still considered as an act of crime.
“Nobody is willing to talk about it. If they suffer from mental health conditions, they will just remain silent,” he said.
He added that there was a need for collaborative efforts between the relevant agencies, and not only the medical sector, to look into the possible factors of teenage suicide in Sarawak.
“These issues need to be tackled at its root as the phenomenon doesn’t only occur here in our country, but everywhere in the world,” he said.
On the publication of suicide reports, Dr Ismail said putting a stop to the reports might not help, but responsible reporting would help and should be practised.
“We need to look into the bio-psychosocial (an interdisciplinary model that looks into the connection between biology, psychology, and socio-environmental factors) of this matter,” he stressed.
Meanwhile, Welfare, Community Wellbeing, Women, Family and Childhood Development Minister Datuk Seri Fatimah Abdullah during a ‘Wacana Bestari: Kesihatan Mental’ programme on Wednesday in Bintulu, said based on statistics from the police, the number of suicide cases in Sarawak has increased.
“There were 46 cases reported in 2018. But it had increased to 55 cases as at Sep this year,” she added.
She pointed out that since 2016 till Sep this year, statistics provided by the police had shown that a total of 159 men and 34 women had committed suicide in the state. The highest occurrence was in Miri (73) and Sibu (25).
“The trend is increasing and certainly worrying given the complexity of the issues behind suicidal ideation, plan and attempts,” she said.
To address the issue, Fatimah revealed that her ministry has been working with strategic partners to create action plans to better manage mental health issues in the state.
“We hope to work closely with our strategic partners including NGOs in order to fight this stigma, enable better management, encourage communities to work together in order to prevent tragedies due to mental health problems,” she stressed.
