On The Mend is a public mental health communications campaign aimed at encouraging young male adults in Singapore to seek help for their depression. It rallies support from people around these males to form a supportive environment for these males to seek help for depression.
The campaign focused on young males between the ages of 21 and 26, the age range where mental health issues are most likely to occur.
On The Mend had a few objectives and they were:
- Improve knowledge of depression;
- Improve attitudes towards seeking help;
- Educate on when and where to seek help; and
- Reduce stigma towards the behaviour of seeking help.
In collaboration with the Community Health Assessment Team (CHAT), a mental health outreach initiative for youths under the Institute of Mental Health (IMH), a series of digital and on-the-ground activities was carried out to achieve the campaign’s objectives.
The campaign utilised various means of engagement platforms, including roadshows, social media contests and sharing of real-life stories, to highlight the seriousness of depression and importance of early treatment.
During the course of our campaign, we met many who were sources of inspiration. One of them was Anthony Leong, 27, who has suffered from depression since he was 18 years old. Anthony was initially reluctant to admit that he has depression because of the fear drawing nasty comments. However, one day, Anthony decided to open up about his illness. This made him realise that he has many supportive people around him and social support is beneficial in helping him keep a depressive episode at bay. Watch the video below to hear his story.
The Highlights
“Shadows: Light in the Dark” Photo Movement
A photo contest was launched on Instagram where we invited homegrown photographers and the public to participate in contributing photos using the hashtag #OnTheMendShadows.
Collectively, these photos served as a reminder to male sufferers that it is okay to seek help, and it is not weak for them to speak up about their depression.
The theme “Shadows: Light in the Dark” painted a metaphorical message about depression. Depression is like a lingering shadow that follows a depressed person everywhere, sometimes faint and sometimes overwhelming. Shadows also mean that there is light. Depression is not complete darkness, but rather it is light struggling to shine through.
14 homegrown photographers contributed their photos for “Shadows: Light in the Dark”, and shared their own thoughts on depression with their Instagram followers. These photos were also displayed at the campaign’s roadshows to encourage more Singaporeans to participate in this meaningful photo movement.
On The Mend Roadshows
Mental health issues is a fairly niche topic and not many Singaporeans understand what this really is.
In order to create awareness for our campaign, our team conducted a series of roadshows at Nanyang Technological University, National University of Singapore and *SCAPE Youth Park. We educated participants on:
- Symptoms of depression and how to detect it;
- Commonality in males; and
- Importance of seeking help and how to do so.
Participants at the roadshows provided feedback that the information was useful and some even discovered surprising facts about depression!
The Memories
Reflection #1 – The Challenges
Reluctance of male sufferers of depression to share
We had hoped that when males hear from others with similar experiences, they will gain confidence to seek help. We went on a search for males with depression who were willing to share about their experiences and help-seeking process.
However, this proved to be trickier than expected as mental health issues is something personal. While some of our male friends have opened up about suffering from depression, they were also against publicly sharing their experiences. With perseverance and through each of our own networks, we managed to conduct video interviews with two male sufferers – Anthony Leong (mentioned earlier) and Chia Xun An.
Xun An was struck with depression since 10 years old, and his condition had caused him to miss out on many common experiences that his peers had. However, Xun An has lived through the odds, and strongly encourages his fellow male sufferers: “You are never truly alone. You will never walk alone.” Watch his story below:
Changing mindsets
Stigmas of opening up and seek help for depression were present in both males and females.
At the roadshows, whenever we told participants of our campaign’s objective (i.e. encouraging males with depression to seek help), we often received odd stares in return. The most common response was, “males get depression too?” Our team then patiently explained what depression was, and how men are at risk of it. This approach was successful and we managed to convince them to join us in this meaningful journey of supporting these males through “On The Mend”.
Reflection #2 – The Takeaways
More in-depth understanding of depression
While running the campaign, we have learnt more about depression as a mental health issue and the possible barriers that may deter individuals from seeking help. Through the various interactions with mental health experts such as psychiatrists and psychologists, we have also learnt about the seriousness of not seeking help for depression and allowing the mental illness to fester. These precious pieces of information were given to our participants at the roadshows, which were primarily organised to spread awareness about the topic.
In addition, doing this project has also resulted in some male friends sharing about their experiences with depression and the challenges they face in wanting to seek help for it. We learnt about their personal struggles and the societal issue of stigma as a whole. This highlighted the need for us to combat the stigma of seeking help for mental health problems and sparked conversations on this topic.
A caring community of Singaporeans
Participants at our roadshows were supportive in our efforts to create awareness for this topic. Most of them were students and they could have spent their time elsewhere to study or hangout with their friends. However, they chose to do otherwise and came to lend support at our roadshows.
We were also encouraged by the professional homegrown photographers who have readily agreed on-the-spot to be part of our “Shadows: Light in the Dark” photo movement when we approached them. Each of them have a huge following and in the first place, they need not even oblige us to participate.
We are indeed humbled by the help rendered and support from our participants, friends and family for making this campaign a success!
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