{"id":911987,"date":"2026-10-01T07:42:12","date_gmt":"2026-10-01T07:42:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/911987\/"},"modified":"2026-10-01T07:42:12","modified_gmt":"2026-10-01T07:42:12","slug":"im-not-okay-what-happens-when-someone-seeks-help-over-mental-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/911987\/","title":{"rendered":"‘I’m not okay’: What happens when someone seeks help over mental health?"},"content":{"rendered":"

For years, the message around mental health has been simple: It is okay not to be okay.<\/p>\n

But what happens after someone finally says, \u201cI\u2019m not okay\u201d?<\/p>\n

That is the question at the heart of a KiniTV special report for Suicide Prevention Month, which looks beyond awareness campaigns to what happens when someone actually reaches out for help.<\/p>\n

Kampung Tunku assemblyperson Lim Yi Wei, publicly speaks about being a suicide attempt survivor and how that experience shaped her advocacy on mental health reform.<\/p>\n

Lim (below) said her decision to disclose her lived experience publicly was deliberate, even though it shocked friends who already knew what she had gone through.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, I did it on stage, and friends who knew my lived experience looked terribly shocked.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can see there were three of them, and you can see their faces just drop and think like, what, did she really say that on stage?\u201d Lim said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut it was also a calculated decision in the sense that I have been advocating for mental health ever since I joined politics.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I think I’ve reached this point where I feel confident enough to come out as someone with lived experience,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

Advocacy work<\/p>\n

Her advocacy has included efforts to decriminalise attempted suicide, which culminated in amendments involving Section 309 of the Penal Code.<\/p>\n

Lim said the issue drew greater public attention during the Covid-19 pandemic, when cases emerged of suicide-attempt survivors being taken into police custody.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cI think people really noticed it during Covid-19 because there were a few cases of attempted suicides, where the survivors were brought to lock-ups.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I think that made a lot of people angry, made a lot of people sit up and realise that there is this ‘undang-undang yang lapuk lah’ (outdated law),\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Lim said she later worked with Bandar Kuching MP Dr Kelvin Yii and Subang Jaya assemblyperson Michelle Ng to push for reform.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

After the coalition government was formed in 2022, they approached then-deputy law minister Ramkarpal Singh.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe kind of seized on the timing to visit Ramkarpal, who was then the deputy law minister, and say, look, you know, this is a really a low-hanging fruit.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt needs to be done because it is unjust to people who have survived suicide, who actually need help, not, you know, an RM1,000 fine, lock-up or both.\u201d<\/p>\n

The KiniTV special also examines access to mental-health care, stigma, workplace discrimination and the support available after someone seeking help.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Suicide is a complex phenomenon with multiple contributing factors, but it is preventable, and recovery is possible. If you or someone you know is struggling, you are not alone – please reach out for support:<\/p>\n

Talian Kasih Hotline: 15999 (Call) \/ +6019 26 15999 (WhatsApp)<\/p>\n

Health Ministry\u2019s Talian Heal: 15555 (8am – 12am daily)<\/p>\n

The Befrienders Hotline: 03-76272929<\/p>\n

Agape Counselling Centre Malaysia Hotline: 03-77855955 or 03-77810800<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For years, the message around mental health has been simple: It is okay not to be okay. But…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":911988,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[64,63,137,514,515],"class_list":["post-911987","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mental-health","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-health","tag-mental-health","tag-mentalhealth"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/911987","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=911987"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/911987\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/911988"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=911987"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=911987"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=911987"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}