This Covid-19 Pandemic situation looks like still far from ending. The number of positive cases keeps rising from day to day and this has given very big effects towards the frontliners especially their mental health. All the frontliners have been working the long hours to help curb this Covid-19 Pandemic situation and the Malaysians have to help.
There are so many frontliners that we should thank for such as the doctors, nurses, members of PDRM, members of ATM and so many more that have been working tirelessly to treat the patients of Covid-19 and also to protect others from getting infected with the dangerous virus. They have to always make sure that all the Malaysians still oblige with the important and necessary SOPs so that it is to ensure the pandemic would still be under control in Malaysia.
The Ministry of Health has announced that the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS) test would be done by all the frontliners who have been involved in the effort to curb the contagion of Covid-19 outbreak for so long since the first day of infection. According to Datuk Dr. Noor Azmi Ghazali, who is the Deputy Minister of Health said that the particular testing would also involve members from PDRM and ATM to know their stress levels and their concerns. This mental health test is not only for the frontliners themselves but the tests will also be carefully conducted on the attendants whose family members were tested positive for Covid-19 as well.
This Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS) test consists of 22 questions that the targeted respondents have to answer so that their depression levels could be obtained and also acknowledged. For those who are diagnosed with severe depression will be referred to psychiatrists for further action.
Dr. Noor Azmi stated that “According to the National Health and Mobility survey of 2019, 2.3 percent or 500,000 Malaysians are depressed with Putrajaya recording the highest at 5.4 percent”. He kindly informed anyone that is going through tough times and also suffering from depression to immediately seek treatment at the Mental Health Center of the Community (MENTARI) and it is definitely available in all states. He also mentioned, “The government is actively adding more psychiatric and psychosocial experts to deal with mental health issues among Malaysians especially due to the Covid-19 pandemic which led to unemployment, affected incomes, family disputes, and abuse.”
Sources: Science Mag.