Mental health cases among youth a worrying trend, says Dr Zaliha

PETALING JAYA: The National Centre of Excellence for Mental Health(NCEMH) will develop a mental health action plan for children and teenagers soon, says Dr Zaliha Mustafa, citing the worrying trend of such cases among youngsters.

“This is very important. I see a rising trend in mental health issues among our younger generation. (This happens in) both children and teenagers” said the Health Minister during her speech at the National Mental Health Day Celebration on Sunday(Oct 22).

“As per our statistics, there are some 424,000 children who are facing mental health problems. That is a huge number,” she added.

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Dr Zaliha said the National Health and Morbidity Survey 2022 showed that one in four teenagers had experienced depression, one in eight had suicidal thoughts, and one in ten had attempted suicide.

When met after the event, Dr Zaliha told reporters that given that children and teenagers are the future of Malaysia, the trend of mental health cases among this group is worrying.

“We need early intervention to ensure that our children will not deteriorate to a more serious state when it comes to mental health,” she said.

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“It is better to stage an early intervention,” she added.

On the measures taken so far to mitigate the problem, she said the Health Ministry has the Mentari program. This outreach initiative also focuses on reintegrating people with mental health problems.

The ministry also works with the Education Ministry and other agencies to combat the problem through early detection and intervention.

Dr Zaliha also launched the Mental Health Psychosocial Support during a Crisis or Disaster Module (MHPSS) to train healthcare personnel to handle mental health cases.

She said this occurred upon realising the lack of mental health professionals, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic.

She said there is at least one MHPSS team at every district clinic and hospital.

The ministry has also developed a Training Module on Suicide Prevention first-line responders for healthcare and law and order frontliners such as police, firemen, civil defence and welfare personnel to respond to attempted suicide cases.

She also introduced the MyMinda feature on the MySejahtera application, allowing users access to screening, psychoeducation resources and a psychosocial helpline.

The ministry will also launch the “Mental Health for All, Stop Stigma” campaign to improve literacy on mental health issues and prevent stigma and discrimination.