Changing Mindsets: Addressing Gaps in Mental Healthcare in Singapore

Although we have a larger number of people coming forward to learn about mental health, and to seek help for themselves or their loved ones, many remain unaware that recovery for people with mental health issues is not only possible but that they too can do well and contribute to the community. Hence, both social and self-stigma against mental health remain a major obstacle to appropriate help-seeking behaviour.

At-risk groups abound. They include students sitting for major exams, those with developmental disabilities such as Autism Spectrum Disorders and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), those with addiction issues, those from broken homes, those from the lower socio-economic group and/or single parent families, and the elderly – groups that are not well-understood or accepted by the mainstream and hence, face the particular stress of community rejection

To a good extent, COMIT and CREST programmes, as well as the creation of more DFCs, help to target those from the lower socio-economic groups, single parent families and the elderly.

For the other at-risk groups, more precise strategies are needed including the involvement of relevant institutions such as the schools, prisons and Family Service Centres (FSCs).

As more students from schools come forward to seek help for their mental health issues, an earlier start to raising mental health literacy should be considered in all schools, not unlike compulsory sex education. It would be good to task vendors with this role but also important to ensure that the delivery is suited to the age and readiness of the young.

Reaching Out to Parents and Workforce

No mental health literacy programme in schools would be complete without including parents of our young. Perhaps, during the biannual parent-teacher meetings or during enrolment exercises, parents are given briefings on not just the aspirations of the schools but also on healthy habits that help foster the mental health of the young, on how important it is to keep the channels of communication open before minor lapses escalate into major crises, and on how to work together towards the holistic growth and development of the young.

Likewise, in all our workplaces, it would be ideal to conduct mental health literacy programmes, similar to the Work-Life Balance initiatives in the past. Everyone, both employers and employees, need to be mental health savvy so that mental wellness is promoted and encouraged, and the workplace becomes a more inclusive environment that looks out for those in need.

Creation of Healing Spaces

As the number of those seeking help increases, the need for more ‘healing spaces’ has also increased. Club HEAL is one such space, in which those with mental health challenges feel supported and welcomed. It is a space where they can learn about their conditions, equip themselves with the necessary tools to improve and remain well; a place where they find hope and begin to accept their challenges. Here, clients are encouraged to find their strengths, develop their interests and formulate their own goals. It is a space where their aspirations are supported with concrete strategies being planned for their attainment.

In Club HEAL, we have had clients progress to become our volunteers and eventually our staff, moving from being a service user to a helper and eventually, a leader.

Diametrically opposite are stressful environments in Singapore that can contribute to the triggering of mental health issues in individuals. These can happen in our schools, workplaces and sadly, in some households.

The culture in many schools and workplaces is such that a premium is placed on performance rather than development of the individual student or worker in realising their potential at a pace that they are comfortable at. While providing incentives that come with good performance may work for some, for others it may trigger an overly anxious response that can ultimately be detrimental. Expectations that people put on themselves due to pressures from within or without can raise stress levels that ultimately harm the individual.

Peer-To-Peer Movement

Another formula for healing utilised in Club HEAL is the adoption of the tried and tested peer-to-peer support. Having walked the mile in similar shoes, peers are in a better position to understand and empathise. Those who have been through recovery journeys and emerged confident, successful and ever ready to contribute can serve as wonderful role models for their peers. They pull their peers in an upward direction with regard to their health, vocational aspirations and eventual community reintegration.

These peer support workers or volunteers often also serve as excellent mental health advocates and in sharing their recovery journeys on a public platform, help to remove the stigma against mental health.

A case in point is the story of Mdm Junainah Eusope – herself having been labelled with several serious mental health conditions – major depressive disorder, psychosis and severe anxiety. After 16 years of being mentally ‘ill’, today Mdm Junainah is one of those we may refer to as mentally ‘blessed’. She started as a board member in Club HEAL in 2013, became our Programme Coordinator in 2014 and today, she is a pillar of strength to not only our clients but also her peers from among our volunteers and staff – affectionately known as ‘Kak Junn’, she grooms suitable peers to be helpers and eventual leaders.

Redefining Success

Current concepts of success couched in material terms can place undue stress on individuals and communities. Reaching for the skies can result in many falls and injuries, sometimes fatal.

Redefining success in spiritual terms such as that defined by Islam – to be a successful abd (servant) and khalifah (representative) of Allah would mean to faithfully follow Allah’s instructions. This includes performing regular prayers and compulsory fasts, paying of zakat for self-purification, the avoidance of all sinful acts, and enjoining good and forbidding evil. This, for a Muslim, if successfully carried out faithfully and consistently, would bring great success that guarantees individual happiness in both this world and the next.

This then liberates the individual from being bound by material success which is not only stressful to achieve as it implies being in competition for limited resources in a ‘dog-eat-dog world’ but also, in most cases, does not lead to ultimate happiness, and instead in many, to feeling ‘empty’.

As in other faiths, success for a Muslim implies helping others and not just helping oneself. The satisfaction derived from serving others and doing good is something that money cannot buy. Redefining success has implications for the people in this little red dot, even as we seek to find out and agree to what truly matters to us as a community and as a nation.

A good place to start would be to join in the simple but wise initiative of our first female President – to “Do Good, Do Together”. Doing good is a two-way act of love that benefits both the doer and the receiver of good, while doing together is indeed a powerful unifying force for the nation.