Despite efforts to promote awareness, mental health services remain lacking as long waiting times, a shortage of trained professionals and limited access to therapy in public facilities pose challenges. Many young people do not even know where to turn to for help, or they are discouraged from doing so by the very people closest to them.
Pantai Hospital consultant psychiatrist Dr Ng Yin Ping said this was due to contributing factors such as poor awareness and difficulties with access to much-needed mental health care.
Ng said others may report physical symptoms such as headaches, tummy discomfort, changes in their sleep quality and appetite. While many seek help for physical symptoms, emotional distress often goes unrecognised or overlooked, until it begins to affect daily functioning, such as declining academic performance or refusal to attend school.
Ng, who is also vice-chairman of the i-Life Suicide Prevention Association of Penang and a committee member of D’Home Mental Health Association, said while awareness campaigns have improved in recent years, people often do not feel safe expressing their emotional distress.
She said people who acknowledge that they are in distress and need help are more willing to receive help and work on their recovery.
‘Unspoken’
Ng commended the efforts of Unspoken for using creative methods to enable conversations and reduce stigma.
She said although the project was not designed as a therapeutic intervention and should not replace therapy, the resultant awareness and emotional processing from the experience can activate their healing process.
In this art project, participants were invited to pick a piece of ceramic from a display selection. Participants were then gently prompted to connect and reflect on a personal experience or emotion which had deeply impacted them, and to express them via writing or drawing on their chosen ceramic. When they were ready, the participants were invited to intentionally smash the ceramic at a designated safe wall, which served as a symbolic release and “letting go” of their burden. Apart from providing a cathartic experience, the intentional smashing served as a literal “breaking the silent burdens” that they had carried. Finally, the participants exited the room to take a moment to reflect on their experience.
Ng highlighted that the art installation was not just about stress relief but about dealing with distress. Instead of moving away from the distress, creative art projects such as Unspoken can be therapeutic as an intervention to gently prompt and facilitate acknowledgement, introspection and meaning.
“Creative art is often viewed as fun and non-threatening, while conferring freedom for one to express themselves.”
“It is a symbolic way of turning the unspoken brokenness or distress into something meaningful,” she said.
She said from a psychological point of view, this transformative act represents “post-traumatic growth” (PTG), such as the experience of positive change that occurs after the struggle with highly challenging life circumstances.
According to the Health Ministry’s National Health and Morbidity Survey (NHMS), mental health concerns are highest among adolescents and young adults.
The latest 2023 NHMS reports that 4.6% of Malaysians, aged 15 and above, suffer from depression, but it is noticeably higher among young adults, aged 16 to 19 (7.9%), and 20 to 29 (7.6%). The same survey revealed that mental health problems were found in 16.5% of children, aged between five and 15, mostly involving peer, conduct and emotional problems.
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