According to the Singapore Mental Health Study 2016, 1 in 7 people in Singapore have experienced a mental illness at some point in their lives. Of this number, more than three-quarters did not seek professional help, citing reasons such as lack of awareness about symptoms and concerns about the stigma against mental illness. Despite its prevalence, mental illness remains as a misunderstood issue in our society and there is a pressing need to raise greater public awareness.
A joint event by NTU Welfare Services Club Regular Service Project (Mental Health) and NTU Graduate Students’ Association, Mind Matters Mental Health Week 2019 comprised of a week-long series of events aimed to tackle this issue by reducing stigma, raising awareness, and boosting empathy towards people with mental illnesses. Event objectives included improving the literacy of the signs and symptoms of mental illnesses, as well as providing tips for students to care for themselves and their loved ones in need.
The Highlights
The first of its kind in NTU, the event kicked off with a 2-day bazaar with booths set up by mental health organisations, to provide information about the mental health scene in Singapore and to fundraise by selling products made by their beneficiaries.
Organisations included Club Heal, Institute of Mental Health, National Council of Social Services Beyond the Label, Samaritans of Singapore, Shan You Counselling Centre, Silver Ribbon, Singapore Anglican Community Services, and Singapore Association for Mental Health.
There were also experiential activities such as Zentangle Art to promote stress relief by Centre of Joy, Virtual Reality simulations of mental illness by VERE.360, and photo-taking with Ellie the Mental Health Elephant mascot.
Other fringe events included: ‘Empathy Matters’ Panel Discussion, Yoga Session, Mental Health Movie Screening, Talks by Community Health Assessment Team (CHAT) and NTU University Wellbeing Centre, and Graphic Medicine Workshop by NTU Medical Humanities Cluster.
The Memories
Reflection #1 – The Challenges
Project reach could have been larger.
Besides publicity through emails and social media, the team could have explored other modes of publicity such as printing large banners or promoting through specific schools or student groups to reach out to a wider audience.
Ensuring that information on mental health was appropriate.
The team managed this by seeking advice from NTU University Wellbeing Centre to ensure that the information provided on mental health was accurate as well as not too sensitive.
Reflection #2 – The Takeaways
Positive feedback.
Although the project reach was not as large as expected, the events were very well-received according to feedback by participants. This supports the importance of reaching out to more people due to the project’s effectiveness.
Interest in continuity.
Partnering organisations expressed interest in being part of similar events in the future, which is promising for the project’s long-term sustainability.
Good Opportunity for Open Discussion.
The team was apprehensive that current stigma against mental health may discourage students from participating in the activities or from sharing their opinions freely. However, contrary to this, students were eager to speak up about the issues they have been facing and were interested to find out more about mental health as well as mental health resources and services. This highlights the importance of allowing more open discussions on mental health which is currently a greatly suppressed topic in our society.
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