Following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Government was hastened to respond by enforcing measures such as social-distancing, quarantine, and isolation. While necessary, these measures can have a significant effect on young people’s mental health. Fear, anxiety, anger, sadness, and grief are compounded by being away from schools, work, peers, adjusting to new ways of learning and working, as well as fear of losing jobs and family income.

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For this reason, the Malaysia Professional Accountancy Center (MyPAC), in partnership with MeDKAD, had organized a webinar session for about 130 MyPAC scholars titled “Mental Health Talk: Stress Management”. This event was in conjuction with the MyPAC Scholars Day 2021 on the 16th October, 2021.

With the aim of providing young people with a platform for genuine connection amid uncertainty and encouraging them to field their questions to the expert, MyPAC have invited the charismatic and passionate Dr. Zul Azuin from MeDKAD to address some of these issues. In the session, she talked about mental health among young people and how it could affect anyone, regardless how well you might seem to be doing at the surface, or how much work you might be getting done. This could help these young people to manage stress better, generate mental health awareness among them, and strengthen demand for integrated mental health and psychosocial interventions.

Dr. Zul Azuin also talked about the importance of finding hope whilst living with a mental issues or struggling with poor mental health, and how self-acceptance and self-compassion are important drivers in the journey to healing. She also shared practical advices on how you can develop helpful coping mechanisms and how you can build a community of people who understand the challenges you experience and act as a support system.

“We set massive expectations for ourselves. But with so much of that cognitive and emotional energy being consumed by everything else that’s going on, many of us are simply not at our normal productive best,” said Dr. Zul Azuin during the session. “Break down tasks into super achievable bite-sized tasks. Celebrate the wins,” she continued.

Suffice to say, the whole session was a success. The engagement from many of the participants was a good sign that young people are aware and care about their mental health. Knowing what steps they can take to support their mental wellbeing can help they feel better, sleep better, and have better relationships with the people around them – and that goes not just for today but for the future too. And with that said, we would like to thank MyPAC for this collaboration, and we are looking forward to more in the future, we should hope so.

And lastly, if you feel like supports from family and friends isn’t enough, do seek professional help. You can see your General Practitioner (GP), make an appointment to chat to someone at your local healthcare provider. Remember, keeping a good mental health involves building your mental fitness, so you can stay on top of things and get the most out of each day.