Showing affection can keep depression away

NST: KUALA LUMPUR: A hug a day could just keep the pill away. Or, at the very least, it will make your child or spouse feel better and help keep depression or mental illness at bay.
National Council of Women�s Organisations (NCWO) president Datuk Professor Dr Sharifah Hapsah Shahabudin wants family members to show greater interest in each other.
This is because verbal and non-verbal communication helps family members overcome stress, anxiety and depression.
A peck on the cheek, a loving hug or just asking about a person�s day go a long way in getting them to open up and share their problems.
"It is through communication that one would know if a family member has a problem, or is stressed out, anxious, depressed or shows symptoms and signs of physical illness.
"While it is easier to just prescribe a pill, very often just lending a good ear works better," she added.
Dr Sharifah Hapsah said more than one million Malaysians needed help in maintaining their mental well-being.
"It seems that women appear to be particularly at risk. For the more common conditions such as depression, women are twice as likely as men to suffer from it," she said, adding that there should be programmes to help women receive appropriate treatment and cope with the difficulties caused by the illness.
She said it was when people cannot cope with their problems that they attempt suicide.
"Attempting suicide is a cry for help. That is why it is important for people who provide primary care to be able to identify the problems and help them," she said, adding that a majority of those who committed or attempted suicides were women.
More than 2,500 Malaysians, in fact, take their own lives every year.
Dr Sharifah Hapsah said a person complaining of physical maladies such as backaches or headaches could actually be suffering from problems at home including physical abuse and if these were not detected, they could lead to more serious illnesses.
She said there were many who still preferred to seek traditional treatment for mental problems, including for serious illnesses such as schizophrenia.
"It is all right, to a certain extent, to seek alternative treatments but they (traditional healers) are not trained to handle people with serious disorders or mental illnesses, for which professional help is needed," she said.

Meanwhile, Prof Dr T. Maniam of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia's Psychiatric Department, said some members of the Malaysian elite preferred traditional healers for treating anxiety and depression.
"The number of people going to the bomoh has definitely increased in recent years due to an increase in cases of depression and anxiety. But they are the exception rather than the rule," he said.
He said rapid urbanisation, industrialisation and losing the support of extended families, neighbours and friends had led to more emotional problems.
Dr Maniam said substance abuse and alcoholism had compounded the situation. He said there was a need to create awareness among Malaysians on the availability of trained professionals who could help them manage and overcome psychological problems.
He said people should seek treatment that was clinically proven and evidence-based rather than depend on bomoh who did not have a standardised method of treatment.