ISKANDAR PUTERI: Johor recorded an increase of more than 20 per cent in cases of mental health and emotional disorder since Covid-19 hit three years ago.
State Health and Unity Committee chairman Ling Tian Soon said this was quite worrying considering that the matter needs to be managed well to prevent it from leading to other health issues.
“Last year, the Johor State Health Department recorded 28 per cent of mental health cases and emotional disorder in the state, compared to 21 per cent in 2021.
“In 2020, the same type of cases was also at a high level at 28 per cent. We detected a trend of this increase occurring after the Covid-19 pandemic hit in 2020,“ he said when replying to a supplementary question during the Johor state assembly meeting here today.
He said before 2020, mental health and emotional disorder cases were only between 11 and 12 per cent.
Ling said as of last year, a total of 57,855 patients related to cases of mental health and emotional disorders were screened.
“This is compared to only 35,951 patients in 2021 and 37,128 patients in 2020 when Covid-19 started spreading,“ he said.
Among the emotional disturbances identified were job loss and financial issues, he added.
He said the state health department has been providing services to help patients adapt to new situations and how to deal with their emotional issues.
In addition, he said the state government, through the state health department, also provides mental health support services to flood victims, especially in severely affected areas.
“This service also includes psychosocial first aid, intervention support for disaster victims to tackle mental health issues stemming from crises such as the floods currently hitting Johor,” he said. – Bernama
