Mental health matters

According to the 2019 National Health and Morbidity Survey (NHMS 2019), close to half a million people in Malaysia are found to be experiencing symptoms of depression.

Furthermore, the unprecedented Covid-19 outbreak has taken a toll on the country’s mental health, with the number of suicides rising as a result. 

The National Fire and Rescue Department Operations, indicated that the department alone had responded to 88 suicide cases, with 78 people rescued, seven injured and three fatalities recorded between March and July this year.

Befrienders Malaysia received about 4,142 calls between March 18 and May 16 during the Movement Control Order period, where over a third of the calls on Covid-19 were suicidal in nature.

It is undoubtedly true that the pandemic has deeply altered social and working environments in several ways. 

Mandatory lockdowns, anxiety of getting sick, along with the suspension of productive activity, loss of income, and fear of the future, have jointly influenced the mental health of citizens.

Moreover, workplace aspects can play a crucial role in moderating or worsening mental health of people facing this pandemic scenario.

Dr. Andrew Mohanraj, President of Malaysian Mental Health Association highlights that mental well being of employees has a huge bearing on productivity of the organisation . 

“It is estimated (projection by Ministry of Women and Community Development Malaysia ) that in 2030 there will be an economic loss of 23 billion US$ due to decline in productivity in Malaysia as a result of Depression in the workplace. 

It is not only because of absenteeism but also presenteeism where an employee attends work but is less productive due to mental health issues. Clearly it is to the employer’s benefit to ensure employee mental well being and to detect mental health issues at the workplace and to offer necessary support to employees,” he says.

Adding on to that, Sangeeta Kaur, Chief Executive Officer of Emerging Journey Asia Sdn Bhd expresses that “When you are physically fit, you tend to be healthier. It’s the same with mental health. 

Improving the mental health of your employees – making them mentally resilient can improve thinking, decision-making, workflow, and relationships at work. All of these translate to increased productivity. And your employees will see you playing a role in helping them to be their best selves.

It is important that employers are able to identify mental health challenges at workplace that might influence the performance of employees which then lead to the overall organisation performance.”

Addressing mental well-being at workplace

Currently, there is no specific common law duty of care owed by employers to their employees to oversee the well-being of an employee’s mental health and there is no tort under Malaysian law for negligent infliction of mental suffering or intentional infliction of mental suffering.

Speaking on that Dr. Andrew explains that to promote good mental health and well being among employees – the  work environment must be conducive in promoting a productive workplace. 

“This could include ergonomic changes in work spaces. Managers have a clear understanding with employees on expected outcomes in the tasks given with realistic datelines is crucial to prevent unnecessary stress at the workplace. 

Frequent team building activities and talks by invited speakers on stress management and prevention of mental health issues in the workplace will also be helpful . Many companies also provide psychological support and referral services through an Employee Assistance programme which is totally anonymous,” he shares.

Sangeeta further describes that it is conservatively estimated that the total cost of poor mental health to organisations incurred through absenteeism, presenteeism and staff turnover is RM14.46bn, or RM946 per employee in 2018. 

“Therefore, investing in effective psychological interventions in the workplace will reduce the cost significantly. Thus, organisations can take steps to create a mentally healthy workplace by raising mental health awareness and implementing Psychological First Aid @ Workplace,” she reckons.

Government’s role

According to Amy Morin, a psychotherapist cum mental strength trainer, research shows that financial issues and mental health problems often go hand-in-hand.

In order to reduce the financial burden, the Malaysian Government has unveiled an Economic Stimulus Package, PRIHATIN package, Additional PRIHATIN Package, National Economic Recovery Plan and Kita PRIHATIN Package worth RM20billion, RM230 billion, RM10 billion,RM35 billion and RM10 billion respectively to weather the impact of Covid-19.

On top of that, the Government has also set-up Mentari Clinics where individuals can access to seek therapy and treatment. There are also psychosocial support hotlines such as Talian Kasih 15999, and other hotlines such as MERCY, Befrienders, Sneham, SOLS to name a few. 

The Malaysian Mental Health Association rolls out a mental health awareness programme specifically designed for the corporate sector called Mental Health First Aid ( MHFA) with the aim of creating awareness on mental health issues in the workplace and to enable Managers to detect mental health problems in employees and to take appropriate action early. 

Moreover, it is surely pleasant to know that the Government has acknowledged the importance of mental health as there is an additional allocation of RM24 million for mental health in Budget 2021.

“It is understood that this allocation will be used to support mental health NGOs in their activities and also to reactivate the National Sucide Registry which has been dormant for quite a few years . 

This allocation demonstrates the government’s commitment towards the burgeoning mental health issues in the country .This is particularly relevant in the post Covid-19 scenario when we will continue to see mental health repercussions as a result of the pandemic,” Dr. Andrew points out.

“It is good that the Government openly addresses mental health matters and offers assistance towards the people’s psychological wellbeing. It is an indication of the government’s seriousness in prioritising these problems,” Sangeeta added.

Corporate implementation

RHB Banking Group, one of the organisations that has implemented digital therapeutics solutions shares its view on taking care of employees mental health.

Rahmat Hashim, Group Chief Human Resource Officer, RHB Banking Group expressed that the health and wellness of their employees has always been part of their employee value proposition. 

“Since 2019 we have put in place a structured Wellness programme as part of our efforts to encourage a healthy lifestyle amongst RHBians. In order to ensure a holistic wellness programme and having realised how critical mental wellbeing is to a person’s overall wellbeing, particularly so during the Covid-19 pandemic, the Group decided to introduce a Mental Health awareness programme as part of our existing Health and Wellness initiative,” Rahmat explains.

According to him, requirements for physical distancing and social isolation brought about by the pandemic further raised concerns for employee wellbeing at home, coupled with other personal challenges employees may be facing, which may contribute to higher levels of mental stress. 

By creating a platform where employees can directly seek professional help from certified mental health experts, employers could play an important role in helping them manage stress and reduce anxiety. 

“Part of this included the setting up of an online Remote Therapy and Hotline service launched in November 2020, that is accessible remotely and anonymously, and available to all employees within RHB Banking Group.

We are optimistic that staff will realise positive outcomes and improvements in their mental wellbeing in 6 months’ time. Nevertheless, as an early indicator, our Employee Engagement Survey (EES) shows an improvement, from a score of 90 percent in 2019 to 92 percent in 2020, above the 2020 average industry score of 89 percent,” he adds.

The Group has invested more than RM250,000 towards improving employees’ lifestyle through a comprehensive health and wellness programme and now, by putting in place hotlines and remote therapies. 

Rahmat states that the company takes great pride in providing these facilities to their employees and as an organisation, they believe that the mental health of their employees is just as important as their physical health. 

“Healthy mental health will not only contribute to a healthy physical health but will also directly increase our employees’ level of productivity,” he shares.

There is no one-size-fits-all approach for organisations to maintain employee’s mental wellbeing. Each organisation should therefore design suitable programmes based on their own work culture and values. 

“We believe in promoting mental wellbeing openly. It is not taboo in any way, and maintaining a healthy lifestyle, including mental health, is a value that should be embraced by all. We must encourage our employees to talk about their problems and concerns to close friends, colleagues, or even their supervisors, so as to enable the organisation to identify as to whether professional help is required in the longer term,” he concludes.

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