Resetting Malaysia for better mental health

ABOUT a month ago I read the sad news of a doctor in Sabah who committed suicide. I also know of an intern from my university who was said to have committed suicide while working as a houseman in a Penang hospital about two years ago.

Both these tragic cases were allegedly connected to bullying by seniors in their workplaces.

I remember that a committee was set up, headed by a retired senior civil servant, to look into the incident in Penang; the committee did not find much issue with bullying as a main concern.

I read the findings back then and felt some concerns about the methodology used – I believe it would not have unearthed the actual cause, and the findings merely watered down what could be major faults in the medical practice culture at public hospitals.

In July, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi revealed some horrendous figures about suicidal deaths in Malaysia: There has been an average of about 1,000 deaths over five years, with a total of more than 4,000.

What is happening to our people that they would do this?

We are a country rich in kinship, a sociable people with networks of friends, and yet the number of people tragically ending their lives is increasing.

I do not know what it feels like to be so despondent but I do know what it is to struggle with mental health.

A while back I attended an event at a church in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, where a group of social activists were trying to help people in the B40 (lower income) group come to terms with adulthood in Malaysia, with a specific focus on racial integration.

I was a speaker, and I happened to mention that I once struggled for six years with panic and anxiety disorders, as well as agoraphobia. I got through those years with help from a psychiatrist and much learning that helped me change my perspective on life (“How I learned to ‘waste’ my time”, Over the Top, The Star, Sept 28, 2021; online at bit.ly/star_panic).

One of the facilitators attending that talk recently asked me to give one of the keynote speeches at an event to raise awareness of the work done by the Reset Minda approach.

The organisation is an NGO called Kelab Minda Malaysia that trains amateur counsellors to be the first-line help through social media for people suffering from depression and suicidal ideation.

The number of people who suffer like this is high – one report I came across said that 30% of the Malaysian population suffers from depression!

How do we help such people when we only have about 500 qualified therapists in the country? (“A shortage of psychiatrists”, The Star, Jan 29, 2024; online at tinyurl.com/bdecw5fe.) The recommended World Health Organisation ratio is one psychiatrist serving 10,000 people. Malaysia has less than one (0.52) psychiatrist per 100,000 persons.

I consider the issue of mental health to be directly related to our failings as a society.

For instance, we condone politicians using harsh language and declaring Malaysians of different races or faiths as enemies of their religion, and using derogatory names like “nonya tua” and “kaf** har*”. These politicians have large followings on social media with hundreds of thousands liking these kinds of racist and extremist speech. I feel this is not mentally healthy, surely?

And then there is our education system that treats everyone as potential worker bees in industry.

After raising five children and teaching young adults for 40 years, I have yet to see or hear of classes or courses that prepare students mentally and emotionally for adulthood and joining the workforce, or for dealing with the challenges of married life.

I believe there are some courses offering financial advice but with a high percentage of young people in heavy credit card debt – 50,000 according to the Credit Counselling and Management Agency (AKPK) – I have to wonder how effective they are.

In keeping with our overwhelmingly industry-led and profit-driven society, it is not surprising that during the Covid-19 pandemic, banks had to be ordered by the government to provide a year-long moratorium (though, of course, the stalled interest was recalculated).

The pandemic triggered a mental health crisis we – and the rest of the world – are still struggling with, and one of the reasons identified is the inability to cope financially. But we have to secure loans for cars and houses that do not have moratoriums embedded for sickness and job displacements.

This is why I think we need to reset society, to move away from the industrial approach and towards living in a more humane manner when it comes to work and education. At the very least, we must make fundamental changes in our education systems, in our financial institutions, and in our work-career expectations.

And we should also support groups like Kelab Minda Malaysia and have more of them to provide a friendly voice when our thoughts circle around despair and destruction.

Kelab Minda calls its approach Reset Minda.

I call it Reset Malaysia.

(For information on the Oct 19 Kelab Minda event at which the columnist will be speaking, go to instagram.com/p/C_iKrdSz66r.)

Those suffering from problems can reach out to the Mental Health Psychosocial Support Service at 03-2935 9935 or 014-322 3392; Talian Kasih at 15999 or 019-261 5999 on WhatsApp; Jakim’s (Department of Islamic Development Malaysia) family, social and community care centre at 0111-959 8214 on WhatsApp; and Befrienders Kuala Lumpur at 03-7627 2929 or go to befrienders.org.my/centre-in-malaysia for a full list of numbers nationwide and operating hours, or email [e-mail].

Prof Dr Mohd Tajuddin Mohd Rasdi is Professor of Architecture at the Tan Sri Omar Centre for Science, Technology and Innovation Policy Studies at UCSI University. The views expressed here are entirely the writer’s own.