The Malaysian Insight

A NATIONAL action plan on mental health will be unveiled in September that will set out the government’s comprehensive strategy to tackle increasing cases of anxiety and depression.

Health Minister Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad said the government and welfare groups would collaborate on the plan that also aims to remove the social stigma attached to mental illness.

The plan will outline programmes and policies from 2019 to 2025 and target common mental health problems such as anxiety, depression and stress, Dzulkefly told the Dewan Rakyat today.  

“We want to start a national conversation about mental health, which is why the theme of the plan is ‘let’s talk’,” he said in response to a question from Dr Hasan Bahrom (PH-Tampin).  

“We realise it is very important to remove the social stigma attached to mental health as without greater public awareness, these illnesses will be harder to treat.”

Dzulkelfy said the plan is to also inform the public that there are mental health challenges apart from  “serious disorders” like neurosis and psychosis.

The government wants the public to be sensitive when dealing with “mental health challenges” which include stress, depression and anxiety.

“The public doesn’t realise that stress, depression and anxiety, unlike the serious disorders, can afflict anyone, and they can interfere with our ability to perform our daily tasks,” he told the House.

“Anyone who finds that they cannot perform their daily tasks for a period of 14 days is considered to be suffering a mental health illness,” said Dzulkefly. – July 18, 2019.