Mental Health

“I don't feel that it is necessary to know exactly what I am. The main interest in life and work is to become someone else that you were not in the beginning."

― Michel Foucault, French philosopher and social theorist

Mental health is a state of well-being in which an individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and is able to make a contribution to his or her community.

Singapore initiated it's first ever National Mental Health Blueprint and Policy in 2007. The blueprint proposed a population-based public-health model, focusing on epidemiological surveillance of the health of the population, on health promotion, and access to and evaluation of community-based services.

From the National Mental Health Study 2011, it was found that 12% of the residential population (approximately 308 400 people) have a mental illness. "According to the latest mental health study, one in ten people in Singapore will be stricken by mental illness in their lifetime, and many are likely to face depression - the most common mental illness here."[1]

Singapore Mental Health Study (2016)

Definitions

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Mental Health

According to the WHO (2018), mental health is a state of well-being in which every individual can:

• Realise his/her abilities
• Cope with the normal stresses of life
• Work productively
• Have the ability to contribute to the community

Mental Disorders

According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), a mental disorder is characterised by clinically significant disturbances in a person’s behaviour, thinking or feeling that suggest dysfunction in psychological, biological or developmental processes underlying mental functioning.Mental disorders are usually associated with significant distress or disability in social, occupational or other important activities. As a rule of thumb, it satisfies three criteria:

• Deviance : Serious deviation from social or cultural norms
• Distress : Causes significant personal distress in social, occupational or other recreational activities
• Dysfunction : Behaviour which interferes with the ability of a person to function effectively

Different categories of mental disorders include substance-related disorders, mood disorders, anxiety disorders, sleep disorder, personality disorder and psychotic disorders, etc.

Legislation

Mental Health (Care and Treatment) Act: to provide for the admission, detention, care and treatment of mentally disordered persons in designated psychiatric institutions

Mental Capacity Act: Any person guilty of ill-treating a person who lacks capacity can be liable to a fine and/or jail term. Ill-treatment includes physical, sexual or emotional abuse, and wilful neglect or abandonment.

Vulnerable Adults Act: Empowers State to intervene in high-risk cases of Vulnerable Adults (VA) abuse / neglect / self-neglect with victim consent (with mental capacity) and without victim consent (without mental capacity). Social workers have powers to: obtain info, enter private homes, conduct assessments of VAs, temporarily relocate VAs to safe place

Specific Groups / Client Segments

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Page to Youth with Mental Health Issues

Page to Adults with Mental Health Issues

Page to Problem Gambling

Statistics

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According to findings from the Singapore Mental Health Study (2016):

• Comparing with the 2010 study, there was an increase in lifetime prevalence of mental illness from 12% in 2010 to 13.9% in 2016.
• 1 in 7 people in Singapore has experienced these disorders in their lifetime ( __% of the adult population 18y/o and above):
  • Mood disorders: Major depressive disorder (6.3%), bipolar disorder (1.6%)
  • 

    There is no health without mental health.
    Anxiety disorders: Obsessive-compulsive disorder and generalised anxiety disorder (OCD+GAD = 4.8%)
  • Alcohol use disorders: Alcohol abuse/dependence
• Those aged 18 – 34 years, divorced or separated were more likely to have mood disorders
• Alcohol Abuse and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder are highly common in Singapore.

Issues Faced by People with Mental Health Issues

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Screening, Detection and Diagnosis

1. Need for preventive measures against mental health problems

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Existing Services and Communal Resources

SRS

Club Heal

HPB Working Minds Curriculum

Treasure your Mind

Adequacy in meeting need

Not many HR departments in companies are aware of how to deal with people wiht mental illness, be it developed in the course of employment or before employment.

Cause of Gap

Not enough awareness and knowledge of the different mental illnesses

Mental illness might still be considered a taboo.

Potential Solutions

Educate HR departments and develop resource toolkits

2. Need for early recognition and screening

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Existing Services and Communal Resources

Community touchpoints: - Clarity Singapore - AIC - SAMH - Community Health Assessment Team (free mental health check for young persons aged 16 to 30 years) - Silver Ribbon

Medical system: - GPs - IMH (Child Guidance Clinic; Forensic Rehabilitation, Intervention, Evaluation & Network Development Services; Mood and Anxiety Clinic; Community Health Assessment Team) - Khoo Teck Puat Hospital (Psychological Medicine Department) - Alexandra Hospital (Psychology Services) - NUH (Psychiatric Clinic) - SGH (Department of Psychiatry) - Tan Tock Seng Hospital (Department of Psychological Medicine) - National Neuroscience Institute - Changi General Hospital (Department of Psychological Medicine) - KK Women and Children’s Hospital

Adequacy in meeting need

Not many HR departments in companies are aware of how to deal with people with mental illness

Mental Health GP-Partnership Programme: Majority prefer to go to GPs as first point of contact when they experience ‘stress-related’ symptoms (Lum et al., 2008). With three GPs, doctors diagnosed 429 new cases of mental illness and potentially diverted about 1,000 appointments from hospitals (Boh & Oh, 2016). More than 3,000 patients were helped through the Mental Health GP-partnership programme (Boh & Oh, 2016).

Seeking help from informal sources instead: Most respondents perceived seeking help from psychiatrist or psychologist as helpful. But the most commonly recommended source of help for persons with alchohol abuse, depression and schizophrenia vignettes is friends and family (Picco et al., 2016).

Compared to young persons (26-28), older persons were less likely to recommend seeing a psychologist compared with talking to family or friends (Picco et al., 2016). Compared to Chinese, Indians were also less likely to recommend seeing a doctor or GP (Picco et al., 2016).

Cause of Gap

Self-stigmatisation result in label avoidance – the individual is reluctant to be diagnosed with or seen as seeking treatment for a mental illness, resulting in delayed treatment seeking (Corrigan et al., 2004).

Stigma, which is manifested in bias, distrust, stereotyping, fear, embarrassment, anger and avoidance identified as a barrier to service use in Asian societies (Picco, et al., 2016).

Cultural factors Those who attribute the cause of mental illness to supernatural elements or spirit possession were more likely to seek help from spiritual healers than from professional mental health providers (Chong et al., 2012; Kua et al., 2000; Lim et al., 2015; Ng, et al., 2011).

People may be uncomfortable in explicitly acknowledging their mental health problems to a health professional and may thus choose to confide in family or friends (Picco, et al., 2016)

Poor awareness of existing services Poor awareness of psychiatric services or lack of understanding of the types of effective treatments offered by professionals [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27524364 (Picco, et al., 2016)

Fear Parents may fear repercussions that their children might be taken away by Child Protection Services or they would be separated from their children by hospitalisations (Hinshaw, 2005; Nicholson & Biebel, 2002).

Potential Solutions

Public education to tackle negative stereotypes of mental illness

Targeted intervention strategies on help-seeking, treatment beliefs, and the effectiveness of treatments in Singapore (Picco et al., 2016).

Equip informal sources of help with adequate skills, knowledge, and mental health literacy to recognise mental health issues and to recommend professional sources of help when needed.

Further research exploring ethnic and cultural differences and preferences for mental health help seeking in Asian societies is needed.

Public Awareness, Information and Referral

3. Need for public awareness and acceptance of people with mental illness

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Existing Services and Communal Resources

Public Education Campaigns on mental illness:

- 'NCSS ‘Speak Up’ Campaign

- World Mental Health Day, 10 October 2016

- Touch Community Services and Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP)’s campaign (Valluvar, 2017)

- UNSAID – a student-led, socially-minded arts collective plans to organise an Artivist Fest on mental health (Tan, 2017)

Silver Ribbon

Club HEAL

Publications: Mental Health Issues - Handbook for Employers and Employees (by SRS)

World Mental Health Day in Singapore: Voice Out Concert in the Park

Adequacy in meeting need

Over 50,000 residents have been reached through various mental health awareness activities (Institute of Mental Health, 2015)

Public awareness campaigns so far are about general mental wellness and mental health conditions. There are not many campaigns that are employment related.

Cause of Gap

Stigma of mental illness needs to be first broken down.

Potential Solutions

4. Need for clients to have adequate information about how to manage their condition and support available

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Existing Services and Communal Resources

Information Services – Medical System:

-SAMH’s helpline

-IMH’s interactive information system

-IMH’s online resources

-Medical social workers

-GPs

Information Services – Community Touch Points:

-Clarity Singapore’s helpline

-Alzheimer’s Disease Association (ADA)’s helpline

-HPB’s Dementia InfoLine

-SOS’s helpline

Mental health literacy programmes

- MOH

- CGH

- SGH

- Silver Ribbon

Mental Health First Aid

Adequacy in meeting need

IMH psychiatrists do not communicate to patients abojut their diagnosis and how to manage their conditions.

Family members may not reveal condition

Many PMIs lack insight about their conditions/don't know where to seek help

Not many HR departments in companies are aware of how to deal with people with mental illness

Info gap: check whether medical social workers supposed to do this at IMH. Are all cases referred to the MSW?

Younger age psychiatric patients with higher education exhibit higher mental health literacy (Lim et al., 2015)

Informal help-seeking (e.g., friends and family) were most common source of help recommended for depression, whereas doctors and GPs were more commonly turned to for dementia (Picco et al., 2016)

Cause of Gap

IMH psychiatrists do not have time to share more about the diagnosis.

Family members want to cushion the impact on PMI.

Potential Solutions

Mental health literacy programmes to target elderly psychiatric patients with lower education, and emphasise importance of seeking help from doctors and GPs regardless of type of mental health condition (e.g., including depression).

Future studies to cover wider range of mental disorders and specify areas of ignorance and knowledge – what people know or do not know – which can help to fine tune mental health literacy programmes.

Treatment and Interventions

5. Need for timely access to medical intervention

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Existing Services and Communal Resources

IMH

Private pyschiatrists

SRS

SACS CRSS

SAMH

Grassroots

HPB

Adequacy in meeting need

NMHS 2011: There are currently wide treatment gaps worldwide. Average treatment delay for mental illness is about 8 years.

Consequence: condition worsens, create stress for community, caregiver stress, other dysfunctions in life. Negative economic impact and high healthcare costs.

Cause of Gap

Many do not seek professional help due to finances, lack of insurance coverage, fear of discrimination and stigma. (Singapore Mental Health Study 2011)

Potential Solutions

6. Need for self-sustainable management of their conditions

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Existing Services and Communal Resources

Private psychiatrists

private counsellors/psychologists

SRS

SACS CRSS

SACS HCC

SACS SCC

SAMH

Club HEAL

FSCs/Counselling Centres

Clarity

HPB Mental Welness Webpage

Medical Services

-IMH (Child Guidance Clinic; Forensic Rehabilitation, Intervention, Evaluation & Network Development Services; Mood and Anxiety Clinic; Community Health Assessment Team)

-Khoo Teck Puat Hospital (Psychological Medicine Department)

-Alexandra Hospital (Psychology Services)

-NUH (Psychiatric Clinic)

-SGH (Department of Psychiatry)

-Tan Tock Seng Hospital (Department of Psychological Medicine)

-National Neuroscience Institute

-Changi General Hospital (Department of Psychological Medicine)

-KK Women and Children’s Hospital

Children and Youth Services

-IMH (Child Guidance Clinic; Forensic Rehabilitation, Intervention, Evaluation & Network Development Services; Mood and Anxiety Clinic)

-SAMH YouthReach

-WINGS Counselling Centre

Adult Services -IMH (Community Mental Health Team; Early Psychosis Intervention Programme; Mood Disorder Clinic)

-SACS

-SAMH (Insight Centre; Creative Hub)

-Silver Ribbon

-APRS (Association for Psychiatric Rehabilitation)

Seniors

-Changi General Hospital’s Community Psychogeriatric Programme

-IMH (Aged Psychiatry Community Assessment & Treatment Service; Psychogeriatric Clinic; Memory Clinic)

-Community Intervention Team (COMIT) by O’Joy Care Services

-Thye Hua Kwan Moral Charities (CREST; Goodlife!; Comfort Keepers)

-Tsao Foundation (Hua Mei Counselling and Coaching)

-Counselling for Older Persons by O’Joy Care Services

-Singapore Action Group of Elders (SAGE) Counselling Centre

Adequacy in meeting need

Cause of Gap

Potential Solutions

7. Need for rehabilitation for those who lack cognitive, social, communication, language, and motor skills

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Existing Services and Communal Resources

Day Activity / Day Rehabilitation Centres

- Club HEAL

- Friendship And Mind Enrichment (FAME) Club by Bethesda C.A.R.E Centre

- SASC (Hougang Care Centre; Simei Care Centre; Oasis Day Centre)

- SAMH’s Club 3R

Adequacy in meeting need

Cause of Gap

Potential Solutions

Employment

Employment can be both a cause and consequence of mental health problems. From a monetary aspect, the lack of income will ultimately have an impact on daily living. Psychologically, unemployment can lead to one feeling lose in social status, resulting in low self-esteem.

8. Need for sustained employment as a means to financial independence

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Existing Services and Communal Resources

Open Door Fund (for PWDs only)

SEC-WIS (extended to PWDS only)

Adequacy in meeting need

Many companies are still not open to hire PMIs: -Culture of flexible work arrangements not present? -Inability to get internships and foot through the door?

Relapses in condition might make it hard for sustenance at jobs.

Cause of Gap

Reluctant to hire due to perceived inability to perform

Not aware of how to accommodate PMIs?

Inflexibility in job, especially during 'low' moments in PMIs.

Neglect of management of condition by employees

Potential Solutions

Informal economy to reduce reliance on formal economy? (e.g. TaskRabbit)

Constultancy/training/funds to help companies on accommodation/internship projects for the hire of PMIs

People with mental illnesses to be taught the importance of management of condition (though medication and lifestyle) in order to maintain jobs.

To introduce short term sheltered employment models to recovering PMIs who might not be able to take the full extent of open employment?

9. Need to be job ready through basic education and specific vocational skills

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Existing Services and Communal Resources

-IMH’s Job Club – job training and placement programme

-SACS’ employment support services

-SAMH’s employment placement services

Adequacy in meeting need

IMH’s Job Club made 270 job placements each year; SAMH places about 150-200 clients each year (Tai, 2016)

MOM and TAFEP: 3 out of 2,100 complaints on unfair employment practices filed by employees with medical conditions. Further checks determined that no actual discrimination occurred (Yuen, 2018)

Cause of Gap

Potential Solutions

10. Need for employers to be open to hiring people with mental illnesses.

Existing Services and Communal Resources

Adequacy in meeting need

Cause of Gap

IMH Vice Chairman: Absence of legislation prohibiting discrimination (Chong, 2017)

Stereotypes of persons with mental illness being ‘crazy’ and therefore incapable of work

Potential Solutions

Silver Ribbon: Remove mental health query on job forms to prevent job search discrimination (Tai, 2016)

Conduct mental health literacy talks at companies to change mindsets about PMHIs

Implement an anti-discrimination law to penalise companies with discriminatory behaviour (e.g., sacking PMHIs without proper justification)

Routine assessment of quality of life in patients with mental illness should be conducted and monitored (Picco et al., 2016)

11. Need for fit between abilities and needs of the job seeker and employer requirements

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Existing Services and Communal Resources

Adequacy in meeting need

Cause of Gap

Potential Solutions

12. Need for flexible workplace accommodations and naturalised support

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Existing Services and Communal Resources

Adequacy in meeting need

Cause of Gap

Potential Solutions

Client system support

13. Need for enlightened caregivers to support people with mental illness to go back to the workforce

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Existing Services and Communal Resources

Adequacy in meeting need

Cause of Gap

Potential Solutions

14. Need for caregiver knowledge and skills

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Existing Services and Communal Resources

Caregivers’ Association of the Mentally Ill

Caregiver Alliance Limited (CAL)

SAMH Insight Centre’s Family Link Programme

Adequacy in meeting need

Cause of Gap

Low awareness of available training services

Potential Solutions

15. Need for caregivers' psychological wellbeing and social support

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Existing Services and Communal Resources

AWWA Caregiver Service

Caregiver Alliance Limited (CAL)

Caregivers’ Association of the Mentally Ill

Club HEAL

SAMH Insight Centre’s Caregivers Support Group

Clarity Singapore’s support groups

Adequacy in meeting need

Cause of Gap

Low awareness of existing services

Stigma associated with mental illness

Potential Solutions

Repeatedly offer caregivers and care recipients information and connection to supportive services

Capability Support

16. Need for professionals to be equipped with knowledge and skills to identify and treat mental illness

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This includes healthcare professionals/workers; general health practitioners; and spiritual leaders/advisors.

Existing Services and Communal Resources

GPs are trained to spot and handle conditions under AIC’s Mental Health GP-partnership programme (Boh & Oh, 2016)

Adequacy in meeting need

Majority prefer to go to GPs as first point of contact when they experience ‘stress-related’ symptoms (Lum et al., 2008). With three GPs, doctors diagnosed 429 new cases of mental illness and potentially diverted about 1,000 appointments from hospitals (Boh & Oh, 2016). More than 3,000 patients were helped through the Mental Health GP-partnership programme (Boh & Oh, 2016)

Cause of Gap

Potential Solutions

17. Need for integrated network of community partners to provide seamless and timely support

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Existing Services and Communal Resources

THRIVE – a regional platform for the North of Singapore to network mental health services, community-based social services, government agencies, VWOs and NGOs (Cheang & Cheok, 2015).THRIVE’s network of 18 agencies, including schools and VWOs, aims to help those with mild or moderate mental health symptoms seek and receive help in the community where they live (Teo, 2015). THRIVES helps service partners to build their capabilities and skills by providing training and networking opportunities for cross-disciplinary learning and networking (Khoo Teck Puat Hospital, 2018).

Adequacy in meeting need

Cause of Gap

Potential Solutions

18. Need to address mental health issues in the community

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(Case Study of COMIT run by O'Joy, by Murdoch Univeristy)

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Resource Directory

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Hotlines

Hotline / Helpline	Who is it for?	Day	Times	Telephone
Samaritans of Singapore (SOS)	Anybody in crisis and the suicidal.	Daily	24 hours	1800 – 2214444
Mental Health Helpline	Those suffering from psychological and psychiatric problems	Daily	24 hours	6389-2222
SAMH Helpline	For people who have psychological, psychiatric or social problem and others who need information on services for such persons	Mon – Fri	9am – 5pm	1800 – 2837019
Hotline 800	Mandarin speaking community with family marital and personal problem	Mon – Sun	10am – 9pm	1800 - 3535800
AMP Hotline	Malay / Muslim families in crisis or those who need help	Mon – Fri	10am – 5pm	6416-3960
Club HEAL	For Malay / Muslim individuals or families  who require assistance with or support for mental health concerns	Mon – Fri	9am – 5pm	6899-3463
Singapore Indian Development Association (SINDA)	Indian families in need of assistance or counselling	Mon – Fri  Sat	9am – 5pm 9am – 1pm	1800-295-4554
AWARE Helpline	Women with a variety of concerns	Mon – Fri	3pm – 9.30pm	1800-774-5935
Counselling & Care Centre	For individuals, couple and families experiencing psychological, marital or family problems	Mon – Fri	8.30am – 5pm	65-65366366
Oogachaga Hotline, Whatsapp and Email Counselling	For LGBTQ individuals - visit website for more specific details	Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays: 7pm – 10pm; Saturdays: 2pm – 5pm.		Hotline: 6226 2002 Whatsapp: 8592 0609
Brave Helpline	Lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex (LBTQI) women in Singapore.	Mon – Fri	10am – 6pm	87888817
Limitless Helpline	Youth experiencing mental health concerns. Can chat on the phone, through text or Whatsapp.	Check the weblink!
CHAT (Community Health Assessment Team)	Youth aged 16-30 experiencing mental health concerns. Offers an online mental health assessment service called WebChat as well for those who wish to stay anonymous.			6493-6500 6493-6501
Fei Yue eCounselling Centre	Youth aged 13-25
Singapore Anti-Narcotics Association Online Counselling for Drug-Related Issues		Check the weblink!
Silver Ribbon (Singapore)				6386 1928
Singapore Association for Mental Health (SAMH)				1800 283 7019

Non-profit Organisations

Organisation/Service	Who is it for?
AMKFSC - Psychological Services Unit (PSU)
AMKFSC - MindCare
AWARE	Provides counselling for women over a range of issues, here.
Club HEAL	Individuals or families  who require assistance with or support for mental health concerns
Clarity Singapore	Individuals in need of social support / support groups -> OCD, youth
Limitless	Youth-centred, offers free and paid subsidised counselling for youth above 12 years old to address issues of relationships, trauma, mental health, self-image and behavioural challenges. Also holds the Zen Dylan Koh Fundwhich offers financial support for youth to seek help for mental health issues
PSALT Care
Samaritans of Singapore
Silver Ribbon
Singapore Association for Mental Health
Singapore Anti-Narcotics Association	Persons struggling with narcotic abuse
WE CARE Community Services	Persons with addictions - substance or behaviour-based

Stories

The Tapestry Project

An independent, not-for-profit website that champions mental health recovery through the power of story.

Our Grandfather Story

Financial Support

Zen Dylan Koh and his mother, Elaine Lek. Elaine was featured in a news article here.

The Zen Dylan Koh Fund - A fund that supports youths with mental health issues in need of therapy.