Mental Health Issues Among University Students and Educators' Readiness to Detect and Help

Nur Zafifa Kamarunzaman,Norfarhana Zulkifli,Alice Shanthi,Zurina Md Nen ,Nur Izzati Shamsuri

doi:10.6007/ijarbss/v10-i9/7738

Nur Zafifa Kamarunzaman, Norfarhana Zulkifli + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.6007/ijarbss/v10-i9/7738

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Abstract

Students with mental issues are becoming prevalent in institutions of higher learning. Most of them choose to remain silent and it becomes the role of educators to identify the problem and get them the help needed. This study aims to examine the educators’ readiness to reach out to students who showed mental health issues such as stress, anxiety and depression during their course of study. They are also able to create a safe environment for the students to unleash their worrisome and bridging to necessary help available around the institutions. This study had undertaken a quantitative descriptive survey on seeking the inclination for educators to help their students in mental health issues. Nineteen items were constructed and distributed online to lecturers in a local institution of higher learning, 191 responses were received. Results indicated that knowing mental health information would increase the inclination of helping behaviour. However, many did not refer to the in-house expert, such as a university’s counsellor. Besides the absence of a mental health framework in higher institutions, these lecturers agree on having a quick reference to guide their help towards the students. Several research implications were also suggested.

Highlights

The statistics of people with the mental issues in Malaysia have increased from year to year
The research outcome shows that stress, anxiety and depression among the university students is caused by genetic factors, ethnic, parent’s occupations and income, and worries on body image (Latiff et al, 2014; Mohammed et al, 2016)
Excessive usage of gadgets such as smartphones and computers is mentioned as one of the factors. These findings concur with Ithnain et al (2018) results who found that students with gadget addiction suffer high risks of anxiety and depression

Summary

Introduction

The statistics of people with the mental issues in Malaysia have increased from year to year. In 2015, the prevalence of mental issues among Malaysians had doubled to 29.2%, equivalent to 4.2 million people (Abd Kadir et al, 2015). The research outcome shows that stress, anxiety and depression among the university students is caused by genetic factors, ethnic, parent’s occupations and income, and worries on body image (Latiff et al, 2014; Mohammed et al, 2016). Excessive usage of gadgets such as smartphones and computers is mentioned as one of the factors. These findings concur with Ithnain et al (2018) results who found that students with gadget addiction suffer high risks of anxiety and depression

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