Discovering signs of depression early helps prevent suicide

Since the pandemic last year, there has been a rise of suicide cases in the country. In 2021 alone, there has been a report of 468 suicide cases in the first five months of the year, according to the Malay Mail.

Officials have revealed that most suicide cases come from young people from the age of 15-18 while cases involving people aged 19-40 placed the second highest. This is a concern to the education sector since youth in this age bracket have been heavily impacted as more students are delayed in their studies or are dropping out of schools and universities as stated in The Conversation.

Nastenka Yip, a staff from St Joseph’s International school said, “Since the first lockdown we have lost about a hundred students. The two main reasons students are dropping out are due to the difficulties to adapt to online learning and financial troubles.”

Saras Pillay, President of NCOBM | Source © BuletinMutiara

“We receive a lot of calls from the younger generation who are having issues with virtual learning. Many students revealed that they had an unfitting home environment for online learning whereas others fear that they won’t be able to live up to their parent’s or teacher’ expectations,” shared Saras Pillay, President of the National Council of Befrienders Malaysia in a report by the Options, The Edge.

Atilla, a student from Inti shared, “I decided to delay my studies during the first lockdown because I found it difficult to adjust to online learning and I didn’t want my grades to be affected.”

I feel worried because it’s been almost a year and a half since I’ve stopped my studies,” she adds.

From recent findings, it is evident that many foreign countries are facing similar issues .CNBC news has reported that 24 million students in America are at risk of dropping out of schools while the University World News has announced a twelve percent reduction in college applications in Japan compared to the previous year.

Dr Amalia Madihie - UNIMAS

According to Astro Awani, Dr Amalia Madihie of the Faculty of Cognitive Science and Human Development in University Malaysia Sarawak said, “Early signs of suicide contemplation can be spotted from one’s behaviour and manners of speech. The signs can include loss of interest in daily activities, difficulty in focusing or keeping up with their daily tasks, self-isolation and expressing thoughts of suicide.”

As stated in the Malay Mail, Health Director General Tan Sri Dr Nor Hisham Abdullah has also requested for the public to be aware of people around them who are suffering from depression especially those who are facing high amounts or stress and are isolated from support networks like friends and family as they are more prone to suicide. If you or someone you know are in need of help do not hesitate to contact the counsellors in Taylor’s at counsellor. lsc@taylors.edu.my or Befrienders KL at 03-76272929.