Human Writes: Do you listen to the kids?

A counsellor recalls a teen struggling to cope with her parents separating as well as a break up with her boyfriend; her mother telling her to 'just get over it' did nothing to help. — dpa

Last year, a 13-year-old girl took her own life, apparently overwhelmed by academic pressure. In recent months, there have been other cases of teen suicides, and through similar means. While these tragic cases draw public attention, they are just the visible tip of a huge, hidden iceberg of Malaysian youth in distress.

A silent, unseen epidemic of mental health struggles is affecting our youth, and manifesting in many troubling ways – self-harm, substance abuse, cyberbullying, teen pregnancy and petty crime; troubled teens are also more susceptible to grooming. While these problems may seem unrelated and arising from different causes, they point to a deeper, common reality: rising mental health issues among youth.