Halfway houses for mental patients

NST: Halfway houses for mental patients to interact with family members and others would be established to ascertain the patients' true condition before they are released to society.
Health Minister Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek said two more mental hospitals would be built to cater for the increasing number of people suffering from mental problems.
The two hospitals, which would incorporate the halfway houses, would be located in Tampoi, Johor, and Alor Star, Kedah, and would be built at the cost of RM700 million each. They are expected to be completed in 2009.
The proposed hospital in Tampoi would have 1,100 beds, of which 800 are for in-patient treatment, and 300 beds for the halfway house. They would be ready in 2010.
With the two hospitals, the number of psychiatric institutions in the country will be increased to six.
The current ones are Hospital Permai in Johor, Hospital Bahagia in Perak, Hospital Sentosa in Sarawak and Hospital Bukit Padang in Sabah.
Dr Chua said the halfway houses were to reduce society's negative perception of mental illness as currently, patients discharged from psychiatric institutions faced numerous problems.
"A recovering patient who is on the verge of being released will be housed there. Rehabilitation programmes will be conducted for patients to relearn social skills and adjust to the outside world.
"Their families will also be able to stay with them to give moral support," he said after launching the Psychology Notebook by consultant clinical psychologist Leong Huey Mei.
Malaysia has 165 psychiatrists and 33 clinical psychiatrists but to effectively serve the people, the nation needs 884 psychiatrists and 364 clinical psychiatrists.
Dr Chua attributed the low number of psychiatrists in the country to lack of interest in this field.
He also said it was estimated that 2.6 million Malaysians aged five and above suffered some form of psychological problem.
However, the number of people who seek treatment is believed to be less than 20 per cent, as they do not want society to label them as a "mental patient".
"Their reluctance is also due to lack of understanding that mental problems could be solved through counselling and treatment."
Dr Chua said society's perception that all mental patients were "crazy" and "aggressive" was incorrect.