AS a woman in her early 20s sat on a ledge 32 floors up, veteran fireman Juyana Azlan Musa from the Selangor Fire and Rescue Department calculated his next move.

One small mistake would mean a tragic end to the life of the woman who suffers from depression after recently losing her job due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Juyana quickly sized up the situation, from the woman’s attire and behaviour to the distance between the two of them. He had only one thing on his mind, which was not to lose the victim.

“This incident happened just last week at an apartment in Sg Buloh, Selangor. The woman was sitting by the edge of a small balcony next to a lift. It was 32 floors up and there was little space between us.

“I had to think of every possible detail. I could not afford to make the slightest mistake. I needed a strategy on how and when to react,” he recounted to The Malaysian Insight.

The woman was determined to jump. She gave Juyana less than a minute to move away as he tried to sit next to her in his bid to make her change her mind.

“She gave me 20 seconds to move away and if I failed to keep my distance, she would jump. At this point I knew persuading her was not an option. I needed to find the perfect moment to grab her away to safety,” he said.

Juyana asked for help from a resident to keep the woman occupied. At the same time, Juyana offered the woman water and a mobile phone to use.

“I asked one of the residents at the apartment to keep talking to her, to keep her mind busy, as I looked for ways to try and get close to her.

“It was not easy, one of her legs was already dangling off the ledge and if I tried to grab her, chances of her falling were high.

“I waited for the perfect moment, it was a split-second move. She got distracted by something, and I quickly grabbed her and put all my weight on her upper body.

“I calmed her down and my team came to the rescue and pulled her to safety,” said Juyana.

Juyana said there have been 37 suicide attempts in Selangor so far this year. In Kuala Lumpur, the fire and rescue department recorded 17 cases in 2020.

“From the 17 cases, 14 lives were saved, one individual sustained injuries while two lives were lost,” said the KL Fire And Rescue Department spokesman.

Penang, meanwhile, reported a total of 53 suicide reports and 19 attempted suicide cases between January and May this year.

Malaysia has seen a rise in suicide attempts and deaths over the course of the first movement-control order (MCO) last year.

Several key statistics, including data from the National Fire and Rescue Department operations, indicated that the department alone had responded to 88 suicide cases nationwide, with 78 people rescued, seven injured and three fatalities recorded between March and June this year.

The Health Ministry recorded 465 attempted suicide cases between January and June last year.

Befrienders Malaysia received about 4,142 calls between March 18 and May 16 last year during the first MCO, where over a third of the calls were suicidal in nature.

The MCO was implemented as the country fought to reduce the number of daily Covid-19 cases. Malaysia was under lockdown from March to June 2020.

A second phase of MCO was initiated sometime in May this year but a sudden rise in the number of daily cases prompted Putrajaya to announce a hard lockdown just weeks later.

Isolated and lonely

Universiti Putra Malaysia lecturer Dr Siti Irma Fadhilah Ismail from the faculty of medicine and health said the MCO had clearly driven people with mental conditions to the brink of suicide.

The psychiatrist said the lockdowns have isolated individuals with mental health issues further.

“Social violence, self-harming and use of substances are high during lockdowns. Imagine being isolated or cramped up in a small space. The impact on people with mental issues is severe.

“Severe loneliness can lead to suicide and it is higher if the person has a history of self-harming,” she said.

Pheh Kai Shuen, head of clinical psychologist at University Tunku Abdul Rahman told The Malaysian Insight that physical distancing measures such as lockdowns have disrupted people’s normal social support network, especially among children, adolescents and senior citizens who have relatively limited access to social media.

He said the effects of pandemic-related isolation have been felt in every corner of society.

Like Siti, Pheh said the effects might be manifested in exacerbated existing mental health issues or freshly developing signs of mental illness in others.

“Social isolation and loneliness is also linked to increased rates of depression, anxiety, substance abuse, domestic abuse, and suicide,” he said.

He said the solution would be to address loneliness with kindness and to follow the World Health Organisation’s recommendation of Brief Contact Interventions.

“A 2015 study observed two groups for six weeks; one that performed acts of kindness for themselves and one that conducted good deeds for others,” he said.

He said results showed that the group that behaved altruistically flourished psychologically through improved social relationships and feelings of greater joy and wellbeing.

Meanwhile, Brief Contact Interventions are for people who are at-risk of suicidal behaviours.

He said this involves brief five to 10 minute phone calls, text messages or postcards to check in on people who are at risk.

“Such efforts have been proven to significantly reduce the rate of suicide in many countries,” he said. – June 24, 2021.