In an interview with The Malta Independent on Sunday about his work at YMCA's psychotherapeutic services, psychotherapist Kyle Matthew Attard highlighted some interesting points and correlations that can be drawn between our emotional wellbeing as a society and things such as increased road accidents and suicides.

"While congestion and poor infrastructure are often blamed, the real issue lies in how we understand emotional regulation and stress behind the wheel," Attard said on road accidents.

He said that the stresses of society and daily life manifest themselves in the form of increased anxiety and anger, which ultimately builds into what we colloquially term as 'road rage.'  Combine this and an unhealthy cultural attitude towards using vices such as alcohol as something of a problem-solver - or perhaps, problem-forgetter - and you end up with a potent, and potentially deadly combo.

Attard said that socialising frequently centres on food and alcohol, normalising excessive drinking and fostering an underestimation of associated risks. "Many people genuinely believe 'nothing bad will happen', especially given the short distances we drive," he said. In his clinical work, Attard has seen individuals who underestimate the dangers of drinking and driving, influenced by both denial and familiarity with risk.

Recent legislation tightening drinking and driving rules is a step forward, but Attard warned that legal changes alone are insufficient. "While stronger laws are essential, they are not enough. Real change begins with prevention and education, especially from a young age. If people are only motivated by fear of punishment, the change will be superficial and short-lived. We need to help individuals understand why certain behaviours are risky, not just tell them they are," he explained.

This is a true point: laws have now changed to, quite rightly, harshen penalties in the case of incidents concerning drunk driving, and the police has also been given new authority to ensure that it can carry out random spot checks and drug tests on the roads.

But, what more can be done to attack the problem at its root cause?  There is plenty of awareness work that can still be done, even with children of younger ages.

Families, schools, and communities play a crucial role in shifting attitudes towards alcohol and road safety, Attard said.

Families can de-normalise heavy drinking and model healthy coping strategies, while open conversations about emotions and stress can break cycles of silence. Schools should integrate emotional literacy and stress management into curricula to help students recognise signs of distress in themselves and others. Communities must ensure accessibility to mental health resources and promote alcohol-free social spaces. Practical measures, such as improved late-night public transport, also help prevent impaired driving.

Despite these needs, Attard warned that Malta is still primarily reacting to symptoms rather than addressing root causes. "Public attention spikes after tragedies and then fades. There's also a persistent stigma surrounding suicide that prevents honest discussion. To make progress, we must treat reckless driving and rising suicide rates as interconnected outcomes of deeper social and emotional distress, not isolated incidents," he said.

This is also extremely true: Maltese society is taken by individual cases as they reach the headlines or their social media feeds, but when the story moves out of the headlines, then the national consciousness seems to forget everything about it.

Attard sums it up best: "Change must be internalised at an individual and societal level. Only then can we hope to reduce the human and social costs of these intertwined public health crises."