Many have come forward on Twitter with personal accounts of being abused, shamed, violated and harassed, both in and out of school, as children. Illustration: studio.yante.ismail/Instagram
Nora, 23, is uncomfortable in religious settings because she associates it with a betrayal of trust. When she was eight, she was sexually-abused by a teacher.
“We had religious classes for children in the neighbourhood. It was operated by this ustaz and ustazah, whom I saw as a sweet and respected married couple, ” she recounts.
One day, when everyone was in the classroom listening to the ustazah, Nora was called to a room at the back by the ustaz to read the Quran.
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For many people, when they stop to think about where their stress comes from, it’s usually from outside sources: family, work, or friends. For Malaysians, the communities we are in shape our lives more than we realize.
Ellisha Othman is a clinical psychologist at SOLS Health – Thrive Well (SHTW), a community-based behavorial health centre. As the current Managing Director of SHTW, she is focusing on leading the organization to provide sustainable and accessible trauma-informed mental health services, especially to the marginalised and vulnerable population using a community development approach.
Children can suffer too, which is why early childhood intervention is important.
The stigma around mental health prevents many from seeking help. Photo: Pixabay
Women are wired to help and when they are exposed to problems their desire to improve the lives of others kicks in.
Take the case of clinical psychologist Ellisha Othman.
The 40-year-old says having access to mental health care while she was in university abroad showed her just how important it is for students her to have the same.
Instead, when she returned to Malaysia, she noticed the stigma and inequities around mental healthcare compared to general healthcare.
Now, as the managing director of SOLS Health, she has made it her mission to break the stigma and increase access to mental health facilities, especially for the underprivileged.