SHAH ALAM - Mental health problems among Malaysians are now more worrying compared to half a million people recorded in the 2019 National Health and Morbidity Survey (NHMS), following the trend of an increasing number of patients who come to seek medical treatment.
Malaysian Psychiatric Association (MPA) Secretary Dr Firdaus Abdul Gani said the number of patients who came for treatment for mental health problems has increased since the Covid-19 pandemic hit up until today, especially involving cases of depression and anxiety.
"This situation occurs because of the many changes and stress in life experienced by almost every individual due to the pandemic.
"Covid-19 is not only a medical phenomenon, but it has a lot of economic impact and changes in daily routines," she told Sinar Harian.
Before the pandemic, NHMS statistics in 2019 showed about 2.3 per cent of Malaysians or half a million people suffer from depressive symptoms.
The majority of individuals affected were from the B40 group (2.7 per cent), followed by the M40 group (1.7 per cent) and T20 (0.5 per cent).
At the same time, the NHMS 2019 also found that 424,000 or 7.9 per cent of children have mental health problems.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), half (50 per cent) of mental disorders start as early as 14 years old and three-quarters of them began in their mid-20s.
Dr Firdaus, who was also a consultant psychiatrist at Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah Hospital, Temerloh, Pahang, explained that the change in the new norm of life that restricted movement or high-risk social activities could cause mental health problems.
She said among the mental health issues detected due to the pandemic apart from depression and anxiety are stress, fatigue (burnout) and suicidal behaviour.
Dr Firdaus informed that the results of an online study involving 1,554 Malaysians published in 'Clinical Epidemiology and Global Health' in October 2021 found that 70 per cent of respondents experienced moderate and severe depression after the third wave of Covid-19 in the country.
From the aspect of gender, Dr Firdaus said, women showed a higher rate for both symptoms of depression and anxiety.
Those at higher risk include those who are single, live in urban areas, and have income or financial problems.
"In terms of employment, those who are more affected are students and those who do not have a fixed source of income.
"However, the figures mentioned are based on those who have symptoms of depression or anxiety, which are symptoms of affected mental health and it does not show the actual number of those who have mental illnesses.
"To diagnose mental illness, a person must get an assessment from a trained medical officer," she said.
Therefore, Dr Firdaus stressed that income or financial problems had been identified as one of the sources of stress that could affect mental health.
She explained that after the pandemic, the affected economic situation led to many people losing their source of income, forced to do extra work to support their families and many also had to work beyond their skills.
"So if the economic problems continue, then the increase in cases of mental illness is also expected to continue," she added.