Malaysia reported a 17.1% increase in unemployed persons to 610,500 in March 2020.
In a statement issued on 8 May 2020, Chief Statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said this increase when compared with 521,300 a year ago was due to the adverse impact of the Movement Control Order (MCO).
Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir said the unemployment rate in 1Q 2020 increased to 3.5% from 3.2% in 4Q 2019 was due to the sharp increase in unemployment rate in March 2020.
“The unemployment rate was the highest ever recorded since the second quarter of 2017. The number of unemployed was 546,600 persons, increased 5.8% as compared to the same quarter last year.
“Out of the total number of unemployed, graduate unemployment accounted for 29.3%. The increase in the unemployment rate can be attributed to the negative impacts caused by the MCO.
“The unemployment category for the youth age group of 15 to 30 years recorded the highest unemployment rate (6.9%) followed by 31 to 45 years (1.4%) and age group 46 to 64 (1.1%), ” he said.
Unemployment has been linked to a greater risk of depression, anxiety, suicide, substance abuse, and violence.
There are two main things we can do to manage our mental health when faced with this situation: address our unemployment, and address how we feel about being unemployed.
Being unemployed can take a serious toll on our psychological well-being such as difficulty in paying for basic necessities where reduced income makes it difficult to purchase food and pay for housing. This create stress and this make us feel difficult to stay mentally healthy.
A healthy mind lets us learn, play, and understand others. Mental health means having good ways to deal with our feelings and how to enjoy life, even when things are hard.
It’s important to take action that will help solve our problems when we’re unemployed, such as looking for resources that help us manage our financial strain and looking for employment.
In addition to addressing your employment issues, we can also address our emotional distress head-on.
For that we can practice good self-care by getting plenty of sleep and eating a healthy diet. It is key to managing our distress. We need to take care of our body if we want our mind to function at an optimal level.
