Personally I am in the mental health field and I would like to get a gauge from the online community on the perceptions on mental health care in Malaysia.

How likely will you consider seeking help from a mental health professional (e.g: Counselor, psychologist, psychiatrist) if let's say you are facing a mental health crisis or major obstacle in life (e.g.: bad breakup, grief, loss of job etc)

As a bonus question, are you aware of any of these services that are available to you?

Feel free to share your experiences, be it good or bad

Sadly, majority of the malaysians are not comfortable or open minded enough to seek professional help. Its a tough industry

if free, y not?

Well, I myself probably have some issues and I know a relative who has it too. So yes. Actually, already did. But our's is more towards health concerns

This post has been edited by bigbangformula: Aug 15 2013, 05:34 PM

I didnt know..

Where?

In the past, when I was planning to take up psychology, I was told many would rather seek help from temples/bomoh or similar practices when they have any mental problems. However, I notice more and more people are open to seeking professional help for mental illness these days.

Yes, I'm aware that there are psychology departments in government and private hospital, as well as private clinics. Many are still unaware of this though.

we have a few people who could use some psychatrist or psychologist help here, but they all stubborn dont want to go. just keep on opening threads and keep on complaining online.

Some people are afraid of going to one because they are afraid of what people might think of them.

If let's say it is not free, how much would you likely to spend to seek help?


I believe most mental health counselors operate either in small centers, hospitals or freelance, and unfortunately their information is not always easy to find unless one goes around poking for more info.

For psychologists I think its easier to spot them in hospitals or private clinics (seems rare).

I think we hear this quite often, but I always wondered; who will know whether they went to seek help? Nobody is camping in front of the counselor's office right

max RM100

people will find out sooner or later, and the news will spread.

The fact is, Malaysians aren't very educated when it comes to mental sickness, all they know is that 'dude' is crazy and sick but never bother to understand why and how.

Most of the mental patients get ignored and sidelined in his/her respective fields. That's where the 'Tanjung Rambutan' term come from, because people just think all crazy people gets send there, and even when the case where the person just needs to take medication(mild case), people still think they belong in a mental institute.

How does it feel like even-though when you get your mental illness under control by medication, people still thinks that you are no different than a madman who deserves to be in a mental asylum, feels bad right?

sir, u r a psychologist? psychology student here

Unfortunately you might be right, but most people don't realize unless your case is really serious, most of the time you don't need to take any medication. Just talk to a counselor or a psychologist and work things out and then you'll be able to function independently with a bit of work. Instead of spending a lot of money long term in buying medications that more often than not only manages your symptoms and never your real problems.

dude no need to call sir Yes I am doing my masters, just curious that's why I started this thread.

i think in asian culture, mental or psychological health is something most people choose to ignore or choose not to acknowledge. Typically, parents of kids with mental issues would expect this sort of "sickness" would heal by itself, over the time and they fail to realise, mental health is equally important as your health as a whole, till it's too late.

the public is not making it easier either. Public perceptions of those who has gone for psychological treatment is often perceived as "orang gila" and therefore would stay as far as possible from people like them, especially, family members when family support is needed at crucial times like this.

and since mental health is not given much priority over here, i dont know where to start when i really needed to get help. the only thing i've heard is "Befrienders" and how extensive and reliable of them helping is still questionable.

i was searching for counselor, psychologist, psychiatrist for someone very dear to me (he claimed he has anxiety disorder, from the symptoms he read online, i thought it would be good for him to seek professional help) and there isnt a proper channel for me to connect him to. all i know is i can start with a counsellor from unis / colleges and it's a matter of trial and error. if the counsellor is not suitable or the search continues.

and the fees for session isnt exactly cheap.

Thanks for sharing, I believe you are not the first in facing such difficulties. Have you or your friend tried looking for help in hospitals or private clinics (kinda rare)?

I believe Befrienders are para-counselors who did receive certain amount of training but are still not registered counselors, they are able to listen to your problems but would refrain from providing any kind of intervention. They usually encourage the callers to seek professional help. A really big salute to them because most of them work on a voluntary basis, managing crisis hotlines sometimes deep into the night just to help people

I'm doing this for a family member he wants to speak to a counsellor or psychologist but he doesn't know which one to choose (public or private hospital) and he's also afraid. some say, for public hospital, you'll be put in the waiting list and you'll have to wait for months before you get to speak to someone.

whereas, some say, he doesnt have to speak to a certified psychologist first, he can start of with a counsellor and they're usually lecturers / professors of colleges.

and we couldnt get any referral from our GP but he doesnt have connection with these people.

i've yet to arrange a session for him cos i myself do not know where to start.

master in? currently in diploma.. planning to major in clinical psychology

You can try referring to the link below:

http://counselingpsychologyinmalaysia.word...ealth-services/

http://cpcsathelp.blogspot.com/

I think its not completely updated but its a good place to start.

Counselling. I too considered clinical but after some pondering I realized its not suitable for me

oo...i also planned to take counseling as extra knowledge le.. clinical psychology d main 1.. why not suitable for u? u dun like or?

Certain approaches are different if comparing between counseling and clinical, they deal with mental health issues differently and have different school of thoughts. But you might as well start a different thread for that

I wouldnt spend, friends & family support is most important for me.

This post has been edited by temmyoi: Aug 17 2013, 09:14 PM

Medication is the only option when the patient is suffering from clear or
even borderline psychotic disorders caused at least in part by biochemical
imbalances in the brain.

One such person is definitely my younger brother whom I am unfortunate
enough to live with. I am virtually certain that he suffers from multiple personality
disorders - essentially overlapping schizoid, paranoid and narcissistic personality disorder.

If I had my way, I would start him immediately on a low dose of one of the
atypical antipsychotics -

Risperidone
Quetiapine
Aripiprazole
Amisulpiride


Or at least one of these older phenothiazines -

CPZ
Thioridazine
Haloperidol
Flupenthixol


This guy is actually a Principal Engineer at Western Digital, earning
close to $ 20,000 a month.

Counselling alone would be a waste of time.






This post has been edited by Tham: Aug 19 2013, 01:13 AM

You could try HUKM. I don't think there is any particularly long waiting time.
Just visit one of the $1 government clinics around town, or any private clinic,
and ask the GP if he can refer you to the psychiatric department there.

This woman in my office has an elder brother who has been referred there
for severe depression, and hospitalized several times in fact. I didn't hear
her saying anything about a long waiting period.

The last I heard, he was on a heavy regimen of at least three drugs - an SSRI
(I think citalopram or escitalopram), a tetracyclic (mirtazapine) and a benzodiazepine.
And he was getting them free, or at very low cost. SSRIs cost a bomb.

Otherwise, if his anxiety is mild to moderate, any GP could prescribe basic drugs
like Ativan, Tranxene, Xanax or low dose of flupenthixol for a start.


There are also quite a few supplements you could try, particularly 5-HTP an
L-theanine, the green tea amino acid.

https://forum.lowyat.net/index.php?showtopi...post&p=61758700


Though there may still be one or two doctors there, the Befrienders are
usually manned by part-time office workers and students who have little
or no training in psychology.



You could try also contacting the Malaysian Mental Health and Psychiatric associations.


http://www.psychiatry-malaysia.org/

www.mentalhealth.org.my

Yes, definitely if the causes are physiological in nature, medications are definitely required. But there are also school of thoughts that do not believe in medications at all They rely mostly on their techniques and not on drugs I believe.

thanks.

but i think my brother should talk to a counsellor or psychologist first. i doubt i want him to start with medication right away.

thanks. will look into this.

Just found this link to the Malaysian Mental Health Association with a list of useful contacts

http://www.mentalhealth.org.my/resources/d...lling-services/

lol often heard this, but who cares lol not like you're going to spread it to the world..

It's all in people's heads, overly self-conscious perhaps

Legitimate mental health professionals usually undergo training on professional ethics that teaches the importance of maintaining therapist/client confidentiality and when under what circumstances that these confidentiality be broken (e.g.: clients exhibit suicidal / homicidal tendencies etc)

Here's another useful link for psychiatric help

http://www.mentalhealth.org.my/resources/d...es-in-malaysia/

usually, the family members of the mental patient would seek help for a specific mental patients, although it all differs



This post has been edited by prescribed: Aug 8 2017, 04:36 PM

Dear Bros and Sis, i will be grateful if you could take 2 minutes of your time to complete this very brief survey regarding mental health in Malaysia(or your home country). It will only take 2 minutes!
We hope to create a lower cost alternative using the power of tech, your feedback will be extremely valuable to us!

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/CDTM6FP

Thank you in advance!

done. good luck with the survey.

Have done survey and all the best to you

how do i find a place to seek for help? i also don't know how the procedure works?

This post has been edited by amfiq1992: Nov 15 2017, 12:36 AM

First, you can check and see if you have the symptoms. You can utilize some online tools for self-diagnosis. An example of such tool for depression is https://www.nhs.uk/Tools/Pages/depression.aspx

If you think you're having mental health issues, you can probably just go to any private hospital's psychiatric unit and make an appointment with any of the psychiatrists or psychologists. Optionally if you want a cheaper approach, head to a government hospital's psychiatric unit but I'm not sure if you need a referral letter from a clinic or general practitioner for this.

If you need more information, the people at Befrienders would be more than happy to help if you give them a call or email them www.befrienders.org.my

If u suspect got mental illness,

1)go klinik kesihatan diagnose ur problem 1st. Then get referral letter to hospital or put u a fix date if they have psychiatrist there.

2)if u go um, go klinik ruka. Let them diagnose then they will tell u what to do further.

3) u call the private one to make appointments.

First, I don't think someone have to have "mental illness" to actually see a mental health care expert. The thing is everyone can be functional but still have some kind of issues preventing one from... being his/her best.

I am one of them. I can function perfectly in work, in life, in love. But deep inside, I'm... sad. I can't tell why I'm sad and anxious, but that's it. One problem with KL is the price for mental healthcare is expensive, and company medical cards don't usually cover them. I fully understand that like other healthcare, it come with cost for expertise, but sadly it's not available to general public...

Anyway I am finding counsellor that's affordable to move forward, for me and my family. I'm functional depressed but my family & gf seems to be the one suffering the most...

Also I don't know if government clinic would bother - It's not like I'm not functional... lol.

This post has been edited by chrisderick88: Nov 26 2017, 06:01 PM

Hi, sorry to hear that. In Malaysia, I feel it is very important to see a fully qualified psychiatrist. Counselling and your GP can be helpful.

Yes, in depression you can be "functional" but like a zombie of sorts (I've been there myself).

I recommend Brain Mind Specialist Clinic Malaysia (this is not a paid promo or anything).

Money is one thing. But when you are treated suitably ie. mentally, physically, spiritually... and then you come out of the depression, you will feel like you were in some other place where there were only dark clouds. When you come "out" of that, you will then realise how important it was to get treated.

All the best.

I believe everyone who are fighting now knows that Depression have no face.

I, myself always try be normal when I'm outside and hangout with friends.

Deep inside, I guess.. it's all about yourself. No matter how hard you try to be own best. Things not went well, if things went well... somehow I think because of luck.
Everytime I try to think Positive, there's an evil or shadow inside you said 'you're a worthless'.. something like that.
Hard to explain.... I thought just let it out, cry non stop for hours will cure this shit hole. At the end, it will return again in short period.

I do once in a while tell them I'm emotionally and mentally struggle to stand on ground.
Most of them just say "Mengada-ada" or "You need more sleep!" etc.

But its been 2 years for me.

I tried work out, not working.
I tried to sleep early and wake up early, same. Not working.
Change my food diet, still not working.

So I decide to travel back to the place where I feel happy and productive all the time. Stay there for 40 days. Somehow it working.. I felt happy, maybe cured?

Then 40 days ends.. for the first time I felt a very hard butterfly in the stomach during the plane depart. My leg started to shake unconsciously without realizing it until the front sit person ask me I move too much.

I thought it was normal lah...

But it kept on coming... and for the past 2 months it is getting worst. And I had the worst Christmas ever. I skip most of year end gathering because everytime I think about it... I started panic for no reason.

Until I found this section on lowyat.

I am very transparent on this issues.. I shared a few but majority don't take it seriously.

If anyone knows a good therapy in Kota Kinabalu.
That's already a big help.

Thank you in-advanced.

This post has been edited by Flanegan: Dec 26 2017, 06:42 AM

Does anyone know the cost of psychological therapy in Malaysia?


This post has been edited by yenchex: Jan 4 2018, 10:57 PM

I do have my ups and downs and I doubt myself sometimes. Yes, living with depression is difficult and it really helps to speak to someone.
Friends & family can help but its not the best as sometimes they don't understand. Worse still, sometimes they try to help but end up messing things up much more. But its with good intentions though.
I found this therapist who is very kind and patient. She uses many creative techniques to help me. I've been seeing her for many years. Slightly pricy but I think its worth it as she helps me out of my depression. The most important I feel is to find someone genuine, not those only interested in your money.

Yes, if you can afford it, yes!

I would, I did and I gained a lot of insight as to why i was who i am and why did i behave in some ways that can be scary to people around me.

The main reason why you should always seek a professional if you suspect you have depression, anxiety, schizophrenia etc is because YOU DO NOT WANT TO SELF DIAGNOSE. It never works and you might end up using that as an excuse to be a horrible person to those around you.

A professional will try and help you understand the cause of the problem and offer a voice outside of what you THINK you have. I realized I was displaying symptoms of BPD. I was hurting my partner and friends and some were afraid. I went to seek help and from august - november i went for maybe 10 sessions. I learnt that it wasnt BPD but how i was raised and how my parents molded me into. Once i realized that, it was controllable. And it wasnt BPD.

If you guys need help but cant afford the fees, go to HELP college's (https://www.cpcs-helpuni.com/) its only 50 for the registration and 30 for each subsequent session.

Thanks for the suggestion. That is indeed within affordable range.

yeah tat's a good one though..

mind sharing the contact? then it wud help a lot of ppl hu come into this thread?

#sharingiscaring