Addressing Rise in Suicide Cases and Making Mental Healthcare Assistance Readily Accessible

15 Mr Vikram Nair asked the Minister for Health whether the Ministry is (i) taking any steps to address the 25% rise in suicide cases in 2022 and (ii) making mental health assistance more readily accessible and affordable to the public.

The Senior Minister of State for Health (Dr Janil Puthucheary) (for the Minister for Health): Mr Speaker, my response will also cover Written Question Nos 26 and 27 from yesterday's Order Paper and Written Question Nos 21 to 22 in today's Order Paper.

Sir, suicide is tragic, personal, complex and multifaceted. It is a sensitive topic and we need to bear in mind that the nature of public discourse may affect the actions of others, especially among the young.

To address the issue of potential suicide, the best interventions include building mental resilience, encouraging help-seeking, spotting early indicators for crisis intervention and supporting individuals who are in crisis. This approach requires help from many stakeholders.

There have been multiple initiatives introduced across agencies to raise awareness and build mental resilience.

At the national level, the Health Promotion Board (HPB)'s MindSG portal and the "It's OKAY to Reach Out" campaign promote self-help and provide guidance on maintaining good mental well-being, such as managing emotions and stress. In addition, the National Council of Social Service's "Beyond the Label" movement addresses mental health stigma and promotes social inclusion for persons with mental health conditions.

To enable children and youths to take active steps in building their mental wellness, mental resilience is taught in schools through the refreshed Character and Citizenship Education curriculum. Peer support structures are also set up in all schools and Institutes of Higher Learning to help youth cope better with stress.

We also recognise the important role that parents play in their children's mental well-being. HPB rolled out a campaign in 2022 to help parents better understand their child's emotional health, identify early warning signs and provide support for their child.

Meanwhile, in the community, Well-being Circles have been set up to strengthen community and peer support by equipping citizens with the skills to care for their own mental well-being and that of others around them. We are making a major push to engage seniors who live alone, lack social support or are at-risk of social isolation through our Silver Generation Ambassadors and the network of Active Ageing Centres.

Assistance is also available in the community for individuals who are in psychological distress. Community mental health teams supported by the Government and set up by social service agencies provide mental health assessment and psychosocial intervention for such clients.

Those requiring crisis support can access various crisis helplines, such as the Samaritans of Singapore Hotline and Care Text service and the Institute of Mental Health's Mental Health Helpline. CareLine, a 24/7 social support hotline, also provides social support and emergency response services to seniors in distress and is operated by staff who can speak various dialects.

Many of the above-mentioned services in the community are provided at no cost.

The Interagency Taskforce on Mental Health and Well-Being continues to review existing interventions and is working together to enhance the quality and accessibility of mental health services.

At the same time, society plays a critical role in upholding a supportive social environment where there is little or no stigma against mental illness, where friends, family members and individuals feel safe to seek help, where parents work with schools to address their children's stress challenges and where everyone takes active steps to build up our mental well-being.

Mr Speaker: Mr Vikram Nair. Keep it short.

Mr Vikram Nair (Sembawang): Just two quick clarifications. The first is, in relation to the people who died from suicide, was any analysis done on whether any of these people had sought assistance before that?

The second supplementary question is whether or not access to mental health should be made as easily accessible as access to general practitioners (GPs), where some are allowed to use the Community Health Assist Scheme (CHAS) card and so on for such consultations. It may be that access to regular counsellors or psychologists would be helpful to manage cases that are surfaced.

Dr Janil Puthucheary: Sir, indeed, when a suicide occurs, we do look at whether there were things that we could have done better, if that person had sought help before or interfaced with professional services. There are a significant number who had not sought assistance before the tragic events.

As to Mr Vikram Nair's suggestion about improving access to counsellors and psychologists as well as the capabilities to the people they do access, indeed, that is part of the work that the Interagency Taskforce on Mental Health and Well-Being is studying.

There are a number of ways to do this. One is to find ways to reduce the barriers for people seeking help – some of that is stigma, some of that has to do with information, some of that is where the services are provided.

Another approach is to provide increased personnel in the locations where people perhaps might seek help so that there is more capability.

The third is to provide capability to other types of professionals where people are seeking assistance of another nature but where now they can continue to go on to seek mental health support as well.

We are exploring all of these as part of the work of the Interagency Taskforce on Mental Health and Well-Being.

12.31 pm

Mr Speaker: Order. End of Question Time. The Motion for leave to bring in a Bill. Ms Joan Pereira.

[Pursuant to Standing Order No 22(3), written answers to questions not reached by the end of Question Time are reproduced in the Appendix, unless Members had asked for questions standing in their names to be postponed to a later Sitting day or withdrawn.]