Malaysia sees suicide rate rise

Malaysia sees suicide rate rise

KUALA LUMPUR: More and more people in Malaysia are killing themselves, a new study revealed. According to the National Suicide Registry in the country, in the past three years, more than 1,100 people have committed suicide, or 1.3 for every 100,000.

While this figure is still well below the international average of 16 suicides per 100,000 people, Malaysia’s Health Minister Liow Tiong said it revealed a rise in recent years of Malaysians killing themselves.

He argued that a number of factors were responsible, including environment, social and economic reasons and the increase in depression facing the Southeast Asian country.

Suicidal behavior in Malaysia “has been recognized as a major public health issue,” Liow said when speaking at the state-level World Suicide Prevention Day Commemoration 2012 at the State Sports Complex in Likas on Sunday.

“Although the Malaysian suicide ratio may be lower compared to countries like Hong Kong with 15 per 100,000 population and Thailand with 5.6 per 100,000 population, it may be due to under-reporting for various reasons such as the stigma attached to suicide, religious concerns, social attitudes and legal reasons,” he said.

“In 2011, the National Health Morbidity Survey conducted by the Ministry of Health yielded a prevalence of 1.7 percent for suicidal ideation among adults, 0.9 percent for suicide plans and 0.5 for suicide attempts,” he said.

Minorities, notably the Indian population in the country had a reported higher risk of suicide.

Psychologist James Lin told Bikyamasr.com at his office in Kuala Lumpur that the slow rise in suicide shows that the government should put more effort into assisting those with the need for mental health care.

“We have seen the government look repeatedly at these issues and hopefully what these new statistics will show is the serious need to put more funding into mental health for Malaysians,” he argued.

“Resilience is the ability to cope with and adjust to adverse life events, having effective coping and problem-solving skills as well as positive help-seeking behavior are proactive against the development of suicidal behavior.

“Other proactive factors are social and cultural factors such as religious and social integration, social connectedness, good network and relationships with friends, colleagues and neighbors. These are all associated with reduced risk of suicide,” added Liow.