Investigating Mental Health Among Malaysian University Students During Covid-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown have led to an increasing number of mental health issues in Malaysia. The demands of living during the pandemic have caused a rising number of university students to be diagnosed with depression, anxiety, stress and other mental health problems. A survey done by National Health and Morbidity 2015 found that the prevalence of mental health problems among adults in Malaysia has increased from 10.7% in 1996, to 11.2% in 2006, to 29.2% in 2015. Moreover, one in 10 individuals in 2011 to one in five in 2016 cases reported are among Malaysian students. Thus, the study explores the prevalence of depression, anxiety and stress symptoms among university students in Malaysia during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study adopted the DASS-21 inventory to measure the mental health of the students during the pandemic COVID-19 that assesses the depression, anxiety and stress symptoms. Data obtained from the 355 Malaysian university students showed that most of the respondents were sometimes feeling depressed by having negative feelings (44.2%)”, and unable to become enthusiastic (44.5%)”, feeling anxious where they were close to panic (33.8%)” and dryness of their mouth (31.5%)”, and feeling stressed where they found themselves getting agitated (40.3%)” and difficult to relax (40.8%)”. The findings may suggest that further research is proposed for the inclusion of successful coping strategies used by the students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Research should also develop interventions and preventive strategies to address the mental health of university students.

Physiological Response and Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic among Malaysian Citizens: A Cross-sectional Study

“…Several stressors, including financial difficulties, online classes, and inaccurate news on social media, have been identified as important factors affecting students' mental well-being. Other stressors include poor internet connection, extended class hours, high expectations from their lecturer, a decline in social interactions, and the uncertainty of their future career and life plans, which have further contributed to mental stress and other health issues [46,47].…”

Mediating Effects of Fear on Mental Health among Undergraduate Students during Open Distance Learning

“…Furthermore, if students are unable to cope with their stressful situations and leave the stressful state untreated, it may result in unfavorable mental health outcomes, increased morbidity, and could potentially have adverse consequences on both their professional and personal lives. The probable explanations could be the students are less tolerant of situations where they are unable to control and cope with the stressful environment ( 47 ).…”

The Prevalence of Attitudes toward Seeking Counseling Help among Malaysian University Students

“…Salim, 2010;Azizan et al, 2013;Khan et al, 2010). Recently, a study among Malaysian university students depicts that the majority of the respondents experienced depression by having negative feelings, feeling anxious and stressed, experiencing mouth dryness, and finding it difficult to become enthusiastic (Hassan et al, 2022). Meanwhile, in a study by Kamaluddin et al (2020), around 30% of the university students were reported to experience some level of anxiety due to the COVID-19 pandemic.…”

“…According to Hassan et al (2022), this is a serious problem because persistent psychological distress can impair students' academic achievements and their well-being life in overall. The depression, anxiety and any kind of stressful symptoms experienced by university students must be given greater attention and immediate treatment.…”

“…They need a good mental state to be able to cope with challenges in the university specifically and in life generally. However, if they have a mental problem and they are not well treated, there will be numerous negative consequences such as a decrease in the academic performance as well as poor health (Hassan et al, 2022).…”