Relate Malaysia is crowdfunding to raise money to launch free mental health screenings in English and in Bahasa Malaysia.

We have received many questions from people who are concerned whether they have a mental health condition or not.

Some of you are feeling sad and overwhelmed and others are anxious and worry about bad things happening all the time. Some of you are concerned about a loved one who is going through a tough time.

It is a good time to assess your mental health. We are building a program that will offer anonymous self-report mental health screenings for many of the common mental illnesses.

What are brief screenings?

Brief screenings are the quickest way to determine if you or someone you care about should connect with a mental health professional - they are a checkup from your neck up. They are educational, not diagnostic. You will see your results, recommendations, and key resources immediately after completing the brief screenings.

Why mental health screenings?

Mental health screenings is an effective way to raise awareness, educate the public on mental health, and most importantly, mental health screenings can save lives.
The American Psychological Association states that screening programs have proven to be helpful in early identification and prevention.By implementing screenings, referrals can be made for treatment, and effective treatment can be employed when distress signs are observed in time. In addition, intervention efforts for at-risk groups can put them in contact with mental health services that can save their lives.

In addition, US Preventive Services Task Force in 2016 recommended that mental health screenings should be implemented as part of a comprehensive mental health care system.

Why create a new screening when there are other free mental health screenings available?

This is the first program to offer online mental health screenings in Malaysia. Although there are many screenings online, you may not know which are accurate and reliable. This program will use only measures that have shown to be valid (accurate) and reliable (consistent).

We also plan to offer this program in both English and Bahasa Malaysia. The rate of mental illness among non-Malay Bahasa Malaysia speaking individuals is significantly higher than the rest of the population. It is essential that we provide accessible mental health screenings for all Malaysians.

Does Malaysia need its own mental health screening?

Having our very own Malaysian mental health screenings will also help us know the mental health of Malaysians in general. This is important to guide future prevention and intervention programs, and to advocate for policies that promote the mental health of all Malaysians.

What will you do with the data collected?

We are committed to protecting your privacy. No one will be able to identify any individual who has taken an online screening. The only information that can be collected and reported is aggregate in nature and pertains to general information regarding the number of screenings that take place, the results of the screenings, and general demographic information.

What will I get for my donation?

We will publish the names of donors who give above RM 100 on our website and Facebook page when the project is complete.

However, every dollar counts towards making this project a reality! We need your help to making mental health aid accessible to all Malaysians.

Please join our fundraising efforts by inviting your friends personally and sharing this page on your social media page. This is a great way to raise awareness of mental health issues in Malaysia and to let them know that you support mental health.

What is my money going to be used for?

As this is a nonprofit cause, all money raised in this fundraising efforts will go directly to the development of the online mental health screening.

We need to develop a secure online system which will collect your responses and provide individualized feedback. We will also need to translate and validate the English mental health screening measures to Bahasa Malaysia.