From January to August 2020, Samaritans of Singapore, a nonprofit organisation that provides emotional support to individuals facing a crisis, had received 26,460 calls, which was significantly higher than the number of calls they received exactly a year before.
This is mainly due to the challenges brought by the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic has not only caused mental health challenges to the people who had none before, but it also aggravates those with pre-existing mental health situations.
To combat this, there are plenty of networks providing mental health services in Singapore. And mental health awareness is steadily rising among Singaporeans. However, despite all the help made available, some people still find it difficult to seek help. Why does this happen?
Table of Contents
- Factors That Are Preventing People From Seeking Help
- Does Mental Health Recognise Age and Status?
- Conclusion
Factors That Are Preventing People From Seeking Help
There are plenty of mental health resources made available in Singapore. But the problem lies in the ease of search. Some people find it difficult to choose a mental health service that is suitable for them because they don’t know what differentiates a psychiatrist from a psychotherapist or with whom they should engage.
For people who are already struggling with their mental health situations, browsing through the many services can be an overwhelming experience. Whether or not there are many resources to choose from, if there’s no information or navigation on selecting the appropriate one, this problem will continue to exist.
Within Singapore’s public healthcare system, a subsidised counselling session may cost around $30 to $50. Meanwhile, a session with a counsellor or a psychiatrist in a private facility will cost at least $160 and $214 respectively.
Many Singaporeans, particularly young people and those from lower-income groups did not seek professional help because they simply couldn’t afford it. And mental health treatment doesn’t usually take just one session—they need to see if they can afford prolonged treatment.
Although mental health awareness is steadily increasing in Singapore, there is still a considerable stigma on the topic. These stigmas can come from family members, friends and even the public. And because of these stigmas that claim those with mental health challenges as “weak” or “sick”, many people, especially youths who are still trying to form their identity, struggle to keep their issues or challenges to themselves.
One of the main contributors to stigma is poor mental health literacy. It was found that many individuals in Singapore are unable to distinguish the different types of mental health challenges (Tonsing, 2017). And because of this, misconceptions and stigma continue to haunt those with mental health challenges, further discouraging them from seeking help.
As much as it’s important to destigmatise mental health challenges, it’s also important to change the narrative that it only happens to certain people. Individuals from well-to-do families may diminish their mental health challenges thinking that they don’t have reasons to feel that way. When this happens, they may refuse to seek treatment and end up beating themselves up. But the truth is, anyone can be mentally and emotionally challenged.
Does Mental Health Recognise Age and Status?
In a recent study involving Singapore’s healthcare workers (Kua et al., 2021), 29.4% of the respondents reported that their physical well-being has been negatively affected.
Another study also mentioned that some healthcare workers are experiencing severe burnout, anxiety and stress from having to take care of COVID-19 patients, deal with financial pressures and adapting to new ways of working (Medical Protection Society, 2020).
However, coming from a healthcare background, some of these healthcare workers refuse to seek help and force themselves to appear “strong” because they fear the public’s perception of them.
Recent news has shown that students also deal with mental health challenges. Therefore, it is apparent that mental and emotional challenges can happen to just about anyone, regardless of their age and status.
Conclusion
Many people, old and young, are susceptible to experiencing mental health challenges. And despite having multiple resources online and offline, many are still unable to get the appropriate help due to shame, lack of awareness, and more.
Centre for Psychotherapy addresses all the challenges in this article. Contact us today to find out how we can assist.
References
Goh, T. (2020, October 15). More in Singapore seek help for mental health issues amid Covid-19 pandemic. The Straits Times. https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/health/more-seek-help-for-mental-health-issues-amid-pandemic
Katz, J. (2020, July 7). Why Don’t People Seek Help for Mental Illness? High Watch Recovery Center. https://highwatchrecovery.org/why-dont-people-seek-help-for-mental-illness/
Kua, Z., F.H., Tan, P. T., Ong, L. J., Tan, B., & Huang, Z. (2021, July 7). Physical activity levels and mental health burden of healthcare workers during COVID-19 lockdown.
Wiley Online Library. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/smi.3078
Medical Protection Society. (2020, July 29). Covid-19: Singapore medical professionals must get mental wellbeing support they need.
Ong, A. (2020, October 13). Making mental healthcare more affordable for Singaporeans. TODAYonline. https://www.todayonline.com/commentary/making-mental-healthcare-more-affordable-singaporeans
Tonsing, K. N. (2017, October 4). A review of mental health literacy in Singapore. Taylor & Francis. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00981389.2017.1383335?journalCode=wshc20
Toh, A. (2020, September 22). 3 Reasons Why People Don’t Seek Help for Mental Health. My Mental Health. https://stayprepared.sg/mymentalhealth/articles/3-reasons-why-people-dont-seek-help-for-mental-health/
Tong, G. C. (2020, December 22). Suicide continues to be the leading cause of death for youths, with a total of 71 people aged 20 to 29 taking their own lives last year.
CNA looks into why some young people delay seeking mental health treatment, despite growing awareness in Singapore. CNA.
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