Studies: Up to one-third of young people have severe mental disorders
KUCHING: Up to one-third of the young people in the community are said to be suffering from severe mental health problems, according to several studies.
This was pointed out by Welfare, Community Wellbeing, Women, Family and Childhood Development Minister Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah in her opening remarks for the 13th International Conference on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology ( ICCAP) 2018 at Pullman Hotel here yesterday.
Adding on, she said chronic mental disorders, if left untreated, could lead to a wide range of psychological impairment, academic underachievement and mental health problems in adulthood.
In relation to this, she also pointed out that mental disorders are still highly stigmatised in many parts of the world and because of such stigma, the percentage of those with mental disorders seeking treatments remains low.
“This conference is an excellent way to increase awareness of mental health among the young people and the available evidentbased intervention.
“Several prevention and intervention programmes have been developed for various types of mental disorders,” she said.
Fatimah also expressed her delight in seeing a large group of practitioners gather in the city for the three- day conference and in this respect, she believed in the importance of practitioners and scientists working together to improve the psychological health and wellbeing of the young people.
On a more specific point, Fatimah said there are many factors that could contribute to the development of a mental disorder in a child. However, the most consistent among all factors are those related to families, she added.
“It is therefore not surprising that the theme for this year’s conference is ‘ Enhancing Resilience in Children, Young People and Families through Innovative Research, Prevention and Service Development’.
“Research has shown that mental disorders run in a family. Research has also shown that the way in which the children are being brought up has an important impact on their social, cognitive and emotional development.”
Delegates from 35 countries including the UK, the US, Nigeria, Canada, Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong are participating in the conference, which concludes tomorrow.
It is the first time that the conference is taking place outside London.
Hosted by University of Roehampton London, the conference is also supported by Sarawak government and Sarawak Convention Bureau.
An ICCAP Art Market is also being run at the hotel, in conjunction with the conference.