‘It’s that big of a deal’

Zahra: Schools could introduce a new subject focusing on mental healthcare.

“PSYCHIATRY is for crazy people.”

“You need to try harder; it’s not that big of a deal.”

“‘He just wants attention.”

Even though efforts have been made to increase public awareness, there is still much stigma related to mental illness.

When one’s mental illness is ignored, the condition could worsen and cost the person the ability to function in society, have proper social relationships and have any motivations or goals in life.

The afflicted individual is unable to respond, cope or think in a way a mentally healthy person can.

Besides the adults, why is it important for students to be educated on mental health topics?

When a child accidentally cuts himself, he knows he requires treatment. He would alert his parents and ask for the wound to be cleaned and band-aided.

However, when a child experiences a type of pain that is invisible to the eye, and is unaware that it is something that requires treatment, he would tend to ignore, suppress or deny it.

If an average teen is going through depression but does not know what depression is, then the condition is unlikely to get treated.

He could separate himself from society, have secret emotional breakdowns and carry on with his life as if there was nothing wrong.

When he begins to show depression symptoms such as getting irritated easily or turning down social interaction, he may be interpreted by those around him as “moody” or “simply being a teen”.

And as his mental condition goes untreated, it is likely to worsen, causing his studies and social life to suffer.

In addition, ignorance of mental health could cause a student’s friends or classmates to unintentionally contribute to the worsening of the individual’s mental condition.

One of my father’s students – let’s call her Fatin for privacy reasons – suffers from dissociative identity disorder. She switches between two personality states and has only vague memories of the state she was previously in.

In one of her states, she would be incredibly talkative, leaving no room for her teacher to continue the lesson.

Her peers, unaware of her condition, would start getting annoyed and throw hurtful comments at her.

This would then trigger her depressive personality state, causing her to have panic attacks.

There are many other examples I could give. Students suffering from social anxiety disorder could be misinterpreted as antisocial and those suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder are often misunderstood as “neat freaks”. This could greatly hurt a student’s self-esteem and growth.

That said, what can be done to address this issue?

To start off, schools could introduce a new subject focusing on mental healthcare. They can hire professional psychologists to educate students about different types of mental illness, and their signs, symptoms and treatments.

They can also teach students healthier ways to cope with daily stress and offer counselling to those who need it.

This could perhaps generate a society that is more understanding and empathetic.

Those suffering from problems can reach out to Mental Health Psychosocial Support Service (03-2935 9935 or 014-322 3392); Talian Kasih (15999 or WhatsApp [phone]); Jakim’s Family, Social and Community Care Centre (WhatsApp [phone]); and Befrienders Kuala Lumpur (03-7627 2929 or www.befrienders.org.my/centre-in-malaysia for a full list of numbers and operating hours).

Zahra, 18, is a participant of the BRATs Young Journalist Programme run by The Star’s Newspaper-in-Education (Star-NiE) team. Throughout the year-long programme, participants aged between 14 and 22 from all across the country experience life as journalists, contributing ideas, conducting interviews, and completing writing assignments. They get to earn bylines, attend workshops, and extend their social networks. To join Star-NiE’s online youth community, go to facebook.com/niebrats.