In the podcast episode, “Understanding youth suicide in Asian cultures”, Dr Leong explained that, generally, Asians prefer to experience “low arousal, positive emotion”, whereas Westerners prefer “high arousal, positive emotion” states. This explains why the pandemic has been so difficult to control in Britain and the United States, where collective safety is less of a priority. In Malaysia, we’re fortunate to be able to access mental health organisations and NGOs such as Relate Malaysia that provide support and services to people in need of help. That said, with a shortage of mental health professionals here, awareness of and education on the importance of preventative strategies such as emotion regulation would go some way to create a new cultural norm of taking the same care over our mental health as our physical well-being. Sunny Side Up columnist Sandy Clarke has long held an interest in emotions, mental health, mindfulness and meditation.

Source: The Star December 07, 2020 01:52 UTC