By Nina Muslim
KUALA LUMPUR: With dark straight hair in a neat bob framing a heart-shaped face and a beatific demeanor, Jenn Chia seems to be the picture of physical and mental wellness.
But still waters run deep and the topic at hand — mental health and her own struggles with it — was no laughing matter.
It all began with the Covid-19 lockdown when the world went even more online and social media exploded including for the 32-year-old content creator and influencer.
Speaking to Bernama at the recent launch of lululemon’s Find Your Well-Being campaign in Seoul, South Korea, Chia — who is also a brand ambassador for lululemon, a Canadian yoga and exercise apparel company — said the boom meant more work for content creators and influencers like her, which was good and bad.
While the world relaxed by watching the entertainment provided by them, Chia and others like her felt pressured to come up with fresh entertainment for the masses consistently for over two years.
Chia said her stress levels increased as the boundaries between work and life blurred during that time. Little surprise that she had a breakdown.
”When you’re on a roll and working really, really hard and you’re hustling, you are in survival mode. And you’re not really thinking about your emotions too much,” she told Bernama.
“(I had) palpitations, anxiety. My hands started shaking. But then I realised it was a panic attack that came from burnout. And from there I realised I had severe depression.”
Describing the experience as “scary”, she said she sought help from a psychiatrist, who validated her feelings and advised her to confront and deal with them so they would not overwhelm her.
Recognising she had sacrificed other aspects of her well-being in chasing perfectionism, she vowed to never again ignore her needs.
When talking about mental health — mainly relating to the inability to manage stressors in life and not mental illness — it is too easy to forget there are other aspects to it such as physical, social, spiritual and intellectual.
Ignoring these aspects is usually why many feel overwhelmed and unable to react well when life throws a curveball.
“I neglected all of that and only focused on work. And I think it was a wake-up call when my body couldn’t take it anymore, literally,” said Chia.
Balancing is key
Like most things in life, balancing the dimensions of wellness is crucial to maintaining good mental health. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), there are four main dimensions that are all intertwined and can affect each other.
The physical dimension is pretty self-explanatory. Mental health experts have touted the importance of physical activity in maintaining wellness.
Studies such as the 2023 review of the Role of Physical Activity on Mental Health and Well-Being, published in Cureus Medical Journal, found that physical activity including yoga alleviates stress and anxiety and has physical benefits such as reducing insulin resistance and improving sleep quality.
Social wellness means maintaining and developing healthy and nurturing relationships, caring about other people and socially interacting with other individuals. It does not necessarily mean socialisation or being social.
KPJ Sentosa Specialist Hospital consultant psychiatrist Dr Mastura Rosly said it was more about reconnection with the important and meaningful people in their lives.
“You can have individuals who have big families or lots of friends but it doesn’t mean the connections are strong or deep or meaningful,” she said via Zoom.
And nowhere is it more obvious than on social media where many people interact with each other but the connections are rarely personal.
The 2016 Association of Facebook Use With Compromised Well-Being: A Longitudinal Study by the University of San Diego and published in the American Journal of Epidemiology found that frequent use of social media correlated with worse mental health.
However, those who had real-world friends and were close to them and interacted with them more frequently reported better mental health.
The method of interaction also plays a part. More users who have direct conversations with others via video chats or phone calls reported being happy, leading researchers to conclude that actual conversations are still better than impersonal messaging.
As a social media maven, Chia knows first-hand how important it is to reconnect personally so she now makes sure to set aside time for her significant other and loved ones.
She stressed it is more than physically spending time with them, saying one must mentally and emotionally be there as well.
“Not just spending time, but really concentrating on them and listening to them,” she clarified.
As for the third dimension, that is, spirituality, Dr Mastura Rosly told Bernama not to conflate it with being religious.
“When we talk about spirituality as part of how one manages mental health, it is the very connectivity to people or things or the environment, to the power beyond yourself,” she said.
“The concept of altruism, where you do something completely not for you but for someone else, for the benefit of others or for a greater cause, that is true spirituality. If you think religion, ritualism is spirituality, it is not necessarily because you need that deeper connection.”
Intellectuality refers to brain health. Mental health experts said doing stimulating mental activities that inspire and challenge one’s mind is important.
Better awareness, less uptake
Recent studies show that more people are aware of and regard mental health as important, especially post-Covid-19. The 2023 Global Well-being Index by lululemon conducted in 14 countries and involving 14,000 people found more are concerned over mental health post-Covid-19.
Sixty-seven percent of the respondents placed mental health as their top priority but 44 percent felt mental health as a top priority was impossible to achieve.
The results are reflected in the Ipsos Global Survey on Mental Health, which includes 500 Malaysian respondents.
It found Malaysians are more aware of mental health than the average in Southeast Asia but less than the global average.
However, access to care is a bit complicated.
Malaysian Society for Occupational Safety and Health board member Associate Prof Dr Irniza Rasdi said Malaysians could seek help for their mental health through various means.
“There are government hospitals and clinics, Jabatan Kebajikan Masyarakat (Social Welfare Department) counselling services, private hospitals,” she said via WhatsApp, adding there are also hotlines to provide assistance.
And if someone required family or marital counselling, she said they could go to the National Population and Family Development Board.
Although most Malaysians reported confidence in the country’s healthcare system, according to the Ipsos survey, there are still obstacles to overcome. One is the low number of counsellors or therapists in Malaysia.
As of 2020, there was one counsellor for every 52,000 persons in Malaysia and based on recent reports, the number has not improved much.
Addressing the shortage will take some time as Malaysia is still nowhere close to meeting the recommended benchmark set by WHO for upper-middle-income countries, which is 2.4 percent of the national health budget.
Malaysia’s Budget 2024 allocated 0.89 percent of the RM41.2 billion healthcare budget to mental health, compared to 1.11 percent of RM36.3 billion allocated in Budget 2023.
Another obstacle is society.
Although awareness may have improved and services are somewhat available, too many are not seeking help as reflected in the Department of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) 2022 figures.
At a recent EJAsia mental health conference, DOSH listed only one psychosocial case requiring assistance in 2022, despite Ministry of Health data saying it is a growing problem.
Experts blame stigma, which is still strong in Malaysia and other countries. Nevertheless, some experts have implemented a way to provide counselling or therapy without the so-called shameful “counselling” label.
Malaysian Federation of Employers vice president and chief people officer of MBSB Bank Farid Basir said to encourage employees to seek counselling, they should be provided with the services of a “life coach”.
“Visiting the psychologist or the therapist — it is a stigma in our society,” he said.
“Changing the name to life coach can help because as a coach, their role is not to change the situation. Their role is to facilitate and unlock the full potential of the employee.”
The 2023 Global Well-being Index found that 42 percent of respondents felt societal pressure to fake happiness and 39 percent to conform to societal norms despite negative impact on mental health.
It also found that 51 per cent do not seek help because of cost.
This is why self-care is important, as most will be able to do some activity at little cost. Chia, who holds a psychology degree from SEGi University in Petaling Jaya, said it could be as simple as taking a few minutes for oneself to relax and stop thinking.
Learning to switch off may not be easy initially but practice makes perfect.
“The moment you are aware of your tendencies, it’s so easy to change,” she said.
“I can switch off so well (now),” she added, smiling. — BERNAMA
