LETTERS: According to the Health Ministry, 1,080 cases of suicide attempts had received treatment at public hospitals last year.
With the ongoing financial distress and family issues arising from the long social isolation brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic, it will eventually lead more Malaysians to end their life either by hanging, poisoning with pesticides, jumping off a tall building or poisoning by car exhaust fumes or others.
During the Movement Control Orders between March 18 and Oct 31 last year, 266 people committed suicide. Twenty-five per cent of the cases were associated with debts, family problems (24 per cent) and marital issues (23 per cent).
The Relate Mental Health Malaysia and the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS) indicated in their joint study in February that there was a lack of awareness about suicide and its risk factors in the community.
According to the study, the unethical way of reporting suicides by the media is a barrier in correcting misconceptions and debunking the myths of suicide. Also, insufficient evidence-based suicide campaigns prevent local authorities from developing a comprehensive suicide prevention strategy.
Due to limited human resources (i.e., staffing in forensics, mental health services and research fellows), funding and support from authorities, there is a lack of a comprehensive database on suicide cases in Malaysia.
The ministry should develop suicide prevention guidelines to prevent more suicides. It must collaborate with the Education Ministry, Youth and Sports Ministry, Women, Family and Community Development Ministry and non-governmental organisations on the guidelines.
The Education Ministry could make mental health a part of the education curriculum, empowering teachers to create a supportive learning environment for students to cope with stress better.
The Youth and Sports Ministry could encourage youth organisations to create a supportive and enabling environment for at-risk youths who require more emotional support to have a greater sense of belonging in the community. Meanwhile, the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry could expedite outreach programmes, especially to single mothers, disabled communities and the elderly.
To ensure the effectiveness of these efforts, the Health Ministry could refer to the three-step approach developed by the national public health agency of the United States, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:
THE first phase is planning — Examine the problem and the informational needs of the target audience;
THE second phase is implementation — Carried out only after main issues (i.e., the intended audience; the knowledge (awareness), attitudes, and behaviour that ought to change; the past performance of a similar intervention; the assumed theory of change; the most realistic approach; and the resources available to campaign developers) are identified; and,
THE third phase is evaluation — Campaign developers must assess the success of the campaign's implementation and identify its outcomes (both positive and negative).
Besides organising more awareness campaigns, the Health Ministry can take the lead to engage the community to ask, listen and stimulate action. For example, invite mental health practitioners for door-to-door visits, understanding the inner needs and problems of vulnerable groups aside from providing psychological first aid-based helplines for them to express their psychosocial concerns.
Community groups involving social workers can play a preventive role by working together with counsellors, psychiatrists and clinical psychologists — advocating suicide prevention through peer assistance groups.
To strengthen suicide attempt reporting, the Health Ministry has to set up guidelines for the media, foster close collaboration with regional and national media and psychosocial experts who can educate journalists on the negative implications of suicide and the importance of mental health.
It is timely for the Health Ministry to revive the National Suicide Registry Malaysia (NSRM) to address the gaps in suicide prevention with the Statistics Department and mental health organisations.
With a quality data collection system that includes age, gender, ethnicity, state and methods of suicide, the Health Ministry can prevent more cases from happening.
By applying stricter monitoring and enforcement mechanisms, we can limit access to means of suicide — a hidden danger that will imply higher economic costs to the nation.
AMANDA YEO
Research Analyst
EMIR Research
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times