JOHOR BARU: Feelings of isolation, anxiety and depression are spreading among the jobless in this city, according to Befrienders Johor Baru.
Statistics compiled by the police revealed that the state has the highest number of suicide cases in the country.
The figures stated there were 266 suicides nationwide since the implementation of the Movement Control Order (MCO) last year, until the end of October in the same year.
The statistics work out to one suicide a day, with Johor topping the tally with 47 cases, followed by Selangor (39) and federal territories (28).
The police have yet to complete the compilation of suicide cases from September last year to March this year.
"Frankly, I'm not surprised that Johor has topped the tally of suicide cases from March till October last year," said Danny Loo, president of Befrienders Johor Baru.
"From the period of the MCO 1.0 we had an average of 770 calls a month from people who were in a state of high anxiety," continued Danny.
"I would say that among these callers, something like 11 per cent of them were in the high risk category, having lost their jobs and involved in domestic violence issues."
Danny said he had not encountered so much hopelessness since he joined Befrienders six years ago.
"One must bear in mind that something like 300,000 Malaysians were crossing over to Singapore almost daily for work purposes," he said.
"From the outset of the Covid 19 pandemic, these people have been in a lurch, relying on their savings to help them through this period of uncertainty and depression," he added.
He said that periodic glimmers of light at the end of the Covid-19 tunnel have turned out to be illusory and that made the situation of the people beset with joblessness even more depressing.
"I'm a middle-aged man and I have never seen anything this grim and bleak before. I just pray and hope that the pandemic is brought under control, people get vaccinated and get back their jobs.
"Otherwise the suicides cases will increase and we at Befrienders would be at our wits' end to cope with the deluge of callers," said Danny.
Dr Abdul Kadir Abu Bakar, consultant psychiatrist at Gleneagles Medini, said issues of mental health had inevitably risen during the pandemic and its detrimental effects on employment.
"In this troubling period of rising joblessness and illness and deaths due to Covid-19, it's no surprise that cases of domestic violence and suicides will escalate," said Abdul Kadir.
He said with the increase in social isolation, poverty and higher unemployment, it was expected for mental health issues to increase.
"We must reach out to the people beset with mental health issues and try to do what we can to assuage their condition.
"This is an unprecedented time, in fact these are desperate times which require social support groups to be aided and abetted by the government so that the overwrought can be saved from thinking that they are alone and helpless."