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The numbers tell part of the history of Covid-19 and the country’s efforts to contain it. The cases here reached 21,707 yesterday. The number of deaths is 20.
But another set of numbers is also emerging, accounting for the number of pandemic victims and associated measures that have been applied to people’s mental health in Singapore.
Globally, there has been an increase in the number of calls to mental health hotlines.
CNN reported that calls to the United States federal crisis hotline, Disaster Relief Helpline, increased 891 percent in March year-over-year. In China, hundreds of hotlines have emerged and are flooded by callers, according to Reuters.
In Singapore, the National Care hotline set up to offer additional support has seen more than 6,600 calls at the end of the month since its launch on April 10.
About 40 percent of these calls were channeled to volunteers trained to administer psychological first aid.
Of these, more than a third, about 1,000 people, needed more specific support and were directed to help services, such as counseling centers or specialized help lines.
Ms. Vivienne Ng, chief psychologist at the Ministry of Social and Family Development, noted that prolonged measures of circuit breakers could have an impact on mental health.
These include the psychological effects that come with social isolation, boredom, resistance to authority, and family tensions.
She is particularly concerned about an increase in depression among people in the medium and long term if there was a prolonged period of recession.
Statistics show that those with pre-existing conditions and socially isolated older people are especially vulnerable. But there is also a noticeable impact on those without pre-existing mental illness.
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Getting help
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• National hotline for assistance: 1800-202-6868
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MENTAL WELLNESS
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• Fei Yue online advisory service: eC2.sg
• Mental Health Institute Mental Health Helpline: 6389-2222
• Samaritans of Singapore: 1800-221-4444
• Silver Ribbon Singapore: 6385-3714
• Tinkle Friend: 1800-274-4788
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Marital and parental issues
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• Community Psychology Hub online advice platform: CPHOnlineCounselling.sg
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VIOLENCE OR ABUSE
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• Big Love Child Protection Specialist Center: 6445-0400
• HEART @ Fei Yue Child Protection Specialist Center: 6819-9170
• PAVE Integrated services for individual and family protection: 6555-0390
• StART project: 6476-1482
• TRANS SAFE Center: 6449-9088
- ADVICE
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• TOUCHline (advice): 1800-377-2252
• Corner Care Advice Center: 1800-353-5800
- HIGHER
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• Agency for the integrated care hotline: 1800-650-6060
At the Whispering Hearts Family Service Center, for example, about 23 percent of new cases occurred last month due to family violence concerns compared to 14 percent in April last year.
Family violence increases anxiety and distress in victims and witnesses, and can lead to longer-term mental health problems, said Evelyn Lai, executive director of Viriya Community Services, which oversees Whispering Hearts.
General population surveys have also measured the different impact of the crisis on mental health.
An online survey of 1,000 people here conducted by market research company Ipsos between late April and early May found that one in four respondents said they were not in good mental health.
Their findings are similar to an online survey conducted by the Silver Ribbon mental health charity, which found that a quarter of the 577 participants had experienced “more than usual” anxiety and cranky feelings.
In a Focus on the Family Singapore survey of more than 1,000 mothers, three in 10 reported feeling sad most of the time, and about half agreed that they did not find the same pleasure in the activities they used to enjoy.
Social worker Evangeline Yeh, founder of the non-profit organization Unity Movement, said she has advised two clients who do not have a mental illness but are now showing signs of it.
One of them is a 45-year-old tutor who is so concerned that her parents may have Covid-19 that she has insomnia, shortness of breath and is experiencing obsessive compulsive symptoms of repetitive handwashing.
The other is a 40-year-old business owner who was so distraught over the survival of the company and having to fire staff that she would cry after team meetings.
Ms. Yeh said, “Without intervention, your mental anguish is likely to worsen when Covid-19 ends as some of your debts and payments are suspended now, but need to be addressed later.”
Lack of personal space, family problems bother young people
Last month, a teenager suffering from depression committed suicide. According to her counselor, the stress of being locked up at home and a bad relationship with her parents contributed to her emotional turmoil, despite the fact that she had been trying to overcome it.
The case was one of the most serious seen by counselor Megan Tang recently.
READ MORE HERE
Anxiety can cause children to “misbehave”
In the last month, 200 more children contacted Tinkle Friend, a helpline for primary school students, so more staff had to be trained to help him.
Kids want to know if they will lose friends they haven’t seen in weeks and how to handle their schoolwork online. They also worry if their parents or themselves will get sick.
READ MORE HERE
Over 150 Seek Charity HealthServe Help
More than 150 migrant workers who were feeling distressed contacted HealthServe in the two weeks after the launch of their virtual counseling clinic on April 20.
Among these, three workers showed more severe mental health symptoms that needed the psychiatrist’s attention. Two were distressed by the recent deaths of their family members at home and were guilty and guilty of not being with their families. The third was agitated because he couldn’t understand why he was being transferred from one place to another: from the dormitory to the Singapore Expo to the hospital and then to the Expo in a short period of time.
READ MORE HERE
Increased distress due to interruption of routine.
Every morning Peter Lim, 81, puts on his favorite polo and pants, wears his shoes, and prepares to leave home.
For the past decade, Lim, who has dementia, has become used to going to the street vendor center for lunch with his wife. But since the switch measures began last month, her son Daniel Lim has had to prevent him from leaving the house.
READ MORE HERE
Face off without face-to-face therapy, seek help online
The circuit breaker has been a period of extreme isolation for Daniel Ler. He lives alone, works from home, has few friends to talk to, and now he even has reduced access to his psychiatrist, who won’t see patients face-to-face until June 1.
The 39-year-old freelance programmer was diagnosed three years ago with manic depression, also known as bipolar disorder.
READ MORE HERE
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