KUALA LUMPUR: The government has been urged to compel GLCs and key government agencies to conduct mental health screenings and regular awareness campaigns to address the state of mental health disorders and suicides in the country.
In making the call, Parti Bangsa Malaysia vice-president, Dr Shatish Kumar said this would set the tone for more corporations and agencies to follow the lead in de-stigmatising this disorder and making mental health more accessible to workers.
"The agencies should get the help of mental health specialists to train the Human Resource departments in their respective agencies to screen for mental health issues among employees through questionnaires, screening tools and counselling.
"This would help to identify individuals vulnerable to mental health disorders like anxiety and depression at an early stage and timely referrals can be made," he said in a statement.
He said the government should also consider giving tax incentives for companies to conduct mental health screenings and campaigns at the workplace.
"In the long run, the government should make it a requirement for all public listed companies to conduct mental health screenings at regular intervals by mental health professionals while encouraging non-listed companies to do the same. The same should apply to government agencies with a large number of staff," he said.
From 2016 to 2021, there has been a 61.7 per cent increase in suicide attempts, a majority of cases involving men aged between 19 and 40-years-old.
According to reports, the leading cause identified in 2021 was emotional pressure, while other reasons include mental illness, financial constraints, drug abuse and illness. What is more shocking and worrying is that in 2021, there were 21 cases involving adolescents aged 18 and below.
The Malaysian Psychiatric Association recently said mental illness together with suicide have multiple contributing factors that tend to correlate and produce the illness or cause suicide and suicidal thoughts.
"There is nothing to be ashamed of if one is suffering from depression as this, like many other diseases, can be treated and overcome.
"Community-based organisations and non-governmental organisations should also be made more visible and useful in terms of advocacy and support for people suffering from mental illness. Anybody suffering from mental health issues should have access to proper assessments and most importantly they should not be judged as being weak when trying to seek help," said Dr Shatish.
The impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic have left many in need of urgent help and due to this, he said a large number are silently suffering from depression.
This is evident from the number of calls received by Befrienders Kuala Lumpur which was a total 20,575 from January to June 2021, compared to 32,710 from Jan to Dec 2020.
"As Malaysians, it is our duty to reach out to each other and help in every way we can. Depression is real and it can lead to severe consequences if left unchecked. We urge the government to take the lead in addressing the worsening state of suicides in the country," he added.
