The Health September 2022 | Page 24

Anxiety disorders are mostly treated as outpatients and receive less attention from clinical psychiatrists than patients with disorders requiring inpatient treatment

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THE HEALTH | SEPTEMBER , 2022

| Mental Health |

Anxiety : Hope and solution

Anxiety disorders are mostly treated as outpatients and receive less attention from clinical psychiatrists than patients with disorders requiring inpatient treatment

Anxiety is often looked upon as a stepchild of most psychiatric disorders , although it possibly is the most prevalent and treatable . It now has its official designation ICD-10-CM version of F41.1 , this too mainly being to qualify for billing purposes .

Among mental diseases , anxiety disorders , including panic disorder with or without agoraphobia , generalised anxiety disorder ( GAD ), social anxiety disorder ( SAD ), specific phobias and separation anxiety disorder , are the most frequent . Because patients with anxiety disorders are mostly treated as outpatients , they probably receive less attention from clinical psychiatrists than patients with other disorders that require inpatient treatment but are less frequent , such as
BY DR JEYARAJAH SIVALINGAM schizophrenia or bipolar affective disorders . Although the numbers differ , the prevalence of at least 30 per cent of the general population has felt its scars in one way or another .
This is my small contribution to understanding this malady and perhaps offers a glimpse of hope and a solution . You worry in your thoughts , does the road wind up the hill ? All the way ? Would you also worry knowing there is a resting place for the night ? For what is anxiety but the postponing of life , the living in the fear of tomorrow And if it is for your tomorrows to fret and frown , it is also for your thoughts to delight and rejoice in todays And if you cannot but rejoice your todays , and insist on life in tomorrows , be prepared to be skinned down to your bones
You are at your best when you rise to meet the peaceful vibrations of life in the moment Therefore , let your visit to mother earth be that of dancing in the moments For if you learn the dance called now , anxiety would be a foreign stranger to you And if you should make a habit of dwelling on tomorrow , then anxiety would be your loyal companion It is suffice that life is not a bed of roses I cannot but imagine the scars of this manyheaded anxiety , the missed possibilities Anxiety enslaved people you , save when you stare it in the eye and her fire can not burn louder , with the awareness , That it is just a thought of tomorrow But you who are made of flesh , bone and blood is , unfortunately , controlled by your thoughts And if you but listen in the stillness of the night , you will hear the whispers of wisdom Your lives , your thoughts , and your will , is present and real only in the now It is a painful delusion to live in the anxious tomorrow . – The Health
Dr Jeyarajah Sivalingam is a Consultant Physician at MAC Clinics

Caring for dementia patients
FORMER Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is suffering from dementia , says Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin , his son-in-law .
Khairy , who is married to Abdullah ’ s daughter Nori , said his father-in-law could not remember the names of his wife , Jeanne Abdullah , and other family members .
“ Many have been asking where Pak Lah is . Pak Lah has dementia . His condition is deteriorating ,” he said , using the nickname by which Abdullah is popularly known .
He said that the former premier , who is 83 , began showing signs of cognitive impairment shortly after retiring from politics in 2009 and has
progressively worsened . “ He has reached the point where he is having trouble speaking and has trouble remembering the names of family members .
“ I ’ ve never shared this ( information ) before . Many of you may wonder where the fifth prime minister of Malaysia is . Dementia is a ... very cruel condition because the body is there , but the mind isn ’ t ,” he said .
Abdullah served as the fifth Prime Minister from Oct 2003 until his resignation in 2009 . He was also the former MP of Kepala Batas for seven terms , from 1979 until 2013 .
“ We are fortunate as we can provide
him the necessary support and care by getting him a full-time nurse . Many families cannot afford that .”
Khairy said this was the reason he had proposed that a joint committee be formed with the Women , Family , and Community Development Ministry to look into providing care for dementia patients . He also stressed that these patients needed nothing less than full-time care .
He added that social care or community-level support could be improved for families that could not afford to hire full-time nurses .
“ We can learn from other countries like the United Kingdom and Australia with advanced social care ,” he said .