Malaysian children suffer rising mental health problems
Malaysiakini
Oct  4, 2006

More Malaysian children are suffering mental disorders and the trend is set to rise.

Disorders that children under the age of 13 have been diagnosed with included autism, depression, schizophrenia and behavioural problems, Health Minister Chua Soi Lek said.

Doctors at a hospital in Selangor, one of Malaysia's most developed, said the number of children seeking psychiatric help had tripled in the last four years.

Stress at school and family quarrels had seen 1,079 children seeking help at the hospital in 2005 compared to 285 cases in 2002, the New Straits Times reported.

"We see a lot of children and adolescents with problems and the most common cause is stress at school and at home," adolescent psychiatrist with a Kuala Lumpur hospital, Toh Chin Lee, was quoted as saying.

Another unnamed psychiatrist said the rising numbers of child mental patients could indicate greater awareness about mental diseases among parents and doctors.

"We've always been short of child psychiatrists. But as more centres open up and people become more aware, more children and adolescents are being sent for treatment," he was quoted as saying.

Chua said a study conducted 10 years ago showed some 13 percent of Malaysian children had suffered mental disorders, the Sun newspaper said.

"I am sure this figure is higher now despite there being no recent study on it," Chua was quoted as saying.