Family, work stress most common complaints during MCO - Befrienders

Its branch chairman, Damian Lee, told Bernama that most of the complaints received were having troubles getting along with their own family relatives, especially when being forced to isolate together in the same place during MCO.

"This would be much worse if any of them have pre-existing mental conditions and if they were caught up in this situation with their own family relatives, it would trigger their depression, anxiety or even having suicidal thoughts," he said.

Befriending is non-judgmental, confidential support that allows the caller to express his or her fears, worries and feelings to someone who has the time to listen.

Lee also highlighted there were also people found more stress working at home than at their respective workplaces.

He said many people found it more difficult to work at home with the limited resources available and the communication barriers among colleagues when needed assistance.

"They said that before MCO, they were able to just call out their colleagues nearby whenever they needed help with work, but now they find it hard to reach out to them," he said.

Meanwhile, Lee said Befrienders Penang's hotline service was temporarily suspended throughout the MCO period.

"However, our service is still available online, so they can still reach out to us either through e-mail or social media," he added.