Disturbed by ignorance

A group is trying to change misconceptions about mental illness.

ONE of the disability groups that surely suffers the most in our society is people with mental illness.

They are frequently laughed at and misunderstood. They also experience neglect and abuse. Many people even fear them.

None of this is warranted if people care enough to find out what mental illness is all about.

Sadly, people with mental illness remain largely unreached as far as available services and treatment in the country are concerned.

The good news is at least one group in the Klang Valley, which I only came to know about recently, is trying hard to make a positive difference for such people. It is called Malaysian Society of Hope for Youth or Persatuan Harapan Pemuda Malaysia (PHPM).

Although it was only formed last year, PHPM has a history which dates back to the early 1990s when its present committee members were involved in running a counselling centre for families and youths with emotional problems.

Food for thought: Mental illness is not something to laugh at.

PHPM runs a day care centre in Klang for the emotionally disturbed.

There is a full-time facilitator and counselling is done by psychiatrists and psychologists as well as trained and registered counsellors. The centre offers personal as well as group sessions.

PHPM uses psycho-social rehabilitative techniques like creative therapy using art, singing and other ways to help emotionally disturbed adolescents and adults to develop as much of their potential as they can.

A major objective of the society is to help the public recognise and understand the effects of emotional illnesses in sufferers as well as on their families and caregivers.

Rather than being ignorant, PHPM believes that awareness of such issues is one of the best ways to tackle and reach out to people with mental illness in our society.

In a public awareness seminar on adolescence problems organised by PHPM earlier this month, a number of issues on mental illness were addressed by some of the top experts on the disease as well as persons working for their cause.

These covered counselling for the abused to addiction, boy/girl relationships and anger management.

Dr M P Deva, who was professor of psychiatry at Universiti Malaya for almost 30 years and a world-renowned figure in his field, explained the very difficult and sensitive period for a person between childhood and adulthood and their families.

He pointed out in particular how tough it was for parents to cope with their children's burning desires and testing ways as they adjust to the psychological, social, physical and hormonal changes that bring the adolescent into conflict with society today. Dr Deva offered several approaches to managing these problems.

Another speaker was Anderson Selvasegaram. An executive director of an NGO called Suka that works in juvenile justice, human trafficking and children living in unfortunate circumstances, Selvasegaram zeroed in on the laypersons' role in recognising and combating abuse.

He also pointed out real incidents where perpetrators of sexual abuse like the father, sadly, get away with the crime because of various "bugs" in the procedures.

One of the most enthusiastically attended sessions by both the old and young was on anger management.

Dr Jenny P Deva, who holds an MA in counselling psychology and serves as president of PHPM, took her audience through an exciting ice-breaker session that showed the uniqueness of each person before delving into what goes through the mind of youths with emotional problems.

Role play was employed to encourage discussion on a few of the problems causing anger in relationships.

Participants went through analysing and understanding each other so that they could appreciate how different human beings are in our preferences. This helped them deal with conflicts better, especially in relationships arising from these differences.

The hectic two-day seminar was held in an open tent and in different rooms at the centre as participants also fought with the hot weather. Despite these shortcomings, everyone remained enthusiastic and felt that they understood mental illness – as well as what most people go through with daily stress and difficulties – a little better after the event.

A singing session and talent performances were also part of the programme.

"PHPM hopes that our work with psycho-rehabilitation will continue to grow in the community as we strive to reach out to more young people and others with mental needs," Dr Jenny said.

■ PHPM is located at 9 Jalan Dato Amar, Klang, Selangor, Tel: 03-3373 1009; e-mail: hope4youth.2012@gmail.com; www.facebook.com/pages/Persatuan-Harapan-Pemuda-Malaysia/261772840539017

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