Let's Talk About It: Mental Health
10 Oct 2023
Mental health conditions affect millions of people all over the world. According to researchers from Our World In Data, it’s estimated that 1 in 3 women and 1 in 5 men will experience major depression in their lives. We can expect these numbers to increase with the lockdowns everyone faced during the Covid-19 pandemic. A local study, conducted by the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) predicts an increase in mental health issues in Singapore, pinning this increase down to Covid-19 related worries. More information on the study findings can be found here.
In this blog you will be able to find various lists of things to help keep a healthy mind, body and soul! We have also taken some time to curate a long list of various mental health apps as well as local Singaporean resources, such as contact numbers and websites to visit.
Mental Health and Wellness Apps
With this surge in symptoms of depression, anxiety and other mental health diseases, comes the demand for more virtual help. Co-founder and CEO of Singaporean mental health and wellness app, Intellect, notes that there has been a huge increase in demand for these sorts of apps over the past year. A comment made to CNA by Theodoric Chew, saw him express his beliefs that “the pandemic has blurred work-life balance and reduced social interactions, leaving employees feeling isolated and disengaged.”
Self-help Apps
For those that are interested in virtual self-help apps, journals, mood trackers, therapy and a lot more have a read of the below apps. This list we have created includes some of the top rated mental health apps around the world. Some of these apps are completely free, some have free trials and a few require a subscription. Have a look below:
- Bearable helps explain symptoms of various mental health diseases and makes your recorded date shareable with mental health specialists and consultants.
- Breathe2Relax shows you various ways to practice breathing techniques that will help calm you down and relieve stress.
- CBT Thought Diary offers Cognitive Behavioural Therapy based guides and exercises for you to help manage depression symptoms.
- eMoods is a dynamic mood tracking app that will automatically report to users selected doctors.
- GG OCD aims to increase awareness of unhelpful thinking habits, provide mood and self-esteem boost, increase access to positive thoughts and reduce anxiety and depression.
- Happify includes science-backed apps that can improve your happiness and mood and overcome negative thoughts.
- Intellect, a Singaporean founded mental health and wellness app, allows users to speak with behavioural health coaches, work with licensed psychologists, or take on self-guided programs.
- Journey Cloud is journaling app that will help users to create a more positive energy and have a calmer mind.
- Lifesum is a digital self-care app that helps users reach their health and weight goals through better eating.
- MindFi was founded with a vision to build positive minds and productive workplaces.
- MindShift helps you break free from anxiety and stress with the use of the free evidence-based anxiety management app.
- Moodfit is free and helps users track their moods, reminds you to keep your goals on track to help address negative emotions.
- Moodmission is backed by extensive research to help provide users with missions throughout the day to help your mental health and skills.
- Mood Tools comes with a number of various tools to offer help to users suffering from depression, such as thought diaries, activities, safety plans and lots more.
- nOCD was created by people who suffer from OCD as well as experts in this field, which matches you with professional therapists and offers therapy via video or text.
- Sanvello provides Cognitive Behavioural Therapy tools to treat symptoms of depression as well as anxiety.
- Self Help for Anxiety Management is perfect for those who want to learn more about self-help therapy for anxiety.
- Shine helps black and indigenous people of colour by offering community support and specific mental health issues.
- Talkspace Online Therapy actually connects you with a huge network of mental health specialists and professionals, with the cheapest plan starting at $65/month.
- Todoist offers perfect organisational tools that can assist people with symptoms of ADHD to stay focussed and organised.
- Whats Up app utilizes both the cognitive behavioural and acceptance commitment therapy helping to cope with anxiety, depression, stress, anger and more!
Mindfulness and Meditation Apps
For those that are looking for mindfulness and meditation apps, look below:
- Aura lets users take care of their emotional health with a range of tools such as meditations, sleep training, life coachings, poems, cognitive behaviour therapy and more!
- Balance lets users personalize their meditations. A simple quiz beforehand will allow for different meditation styles and programs. (FYI, Balance comes with a 1 year free trial!)
- Calm, a widely known app, can help tackle a number of problems such as sleep quality, stress and anxiety, focus, and lots more!
- Headspace offers users guided meditations to help make users happier, find more joy and get better sleep.
- Simple Habits is an app which focuses solely on sleep. It aims to help users fall asleep faster and have better quality sleep.
Mental Health Assistance in Singapore
On the 5th October, the Taskforce on Mental Health launched Singapore’s new National Mental Health and Well-being Strategy. "The Strategy aims to create an effective mental health ecosystem comprising accessible and good quality clinical care with a supportive community and society, where people with mental health needs can seek help early without stigma and be readily supported for their recovery." More information, here.
Last year the MOH Office for Healthcare Transformation (MOHT), in partnership with Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF), National Council of Social Service (NCSS) and Institute of Mental Health (IMH), launched mindline. mindline.sg addresses the need for a trusted platform to improve the wellbeing of people in Singapore through technology. Its key features include:
1. A clinically validated self-assessment tool
2. Wysa, an emotionally intelligent AI chatbot
3. A compendium of customised local resources, direct hotlines and self-care exercises
A portfolio of resources carefully curated from various social and healthcare organisations, and span the following domains and themes:
- Helplines and counselling by phone
- Employment support
- Financial assistance
- Family and Caregiving support
- Volunteering opportunities
- Health and fitness tips
Here are some other resources in Singapore you may wish to have a look at.
- Mental Health Services Directory This document provides an extensive list of contact numbers for various mental-health related queries.
You can find this table here!
- Singapore Association For Mental Health offers a wide range of supporting tools for those suffering from mental health problems, such as mobile support teams, in-person counselling services as well as sports, arts and youth integrated teams.
- Institute of Mental Health offers appointment and referral numbers as well as phone and video consultations.
Some quick tips to boost your energy!
On top of other things that may help your mental health, we've thought of some of our favourite ways to boost our energy and uplift our mood. Have a read below!
1. Exercise
Incorporating exercise into your day is a great way to keep a fit mind a body! Starting your day off with a walk is great, especially if you also manage to get some sun exposure (helps your circadian rhythm). If you don't have the time or the budget to workout in a gym or class (we know how expensive gyms can be here) you can buy some resistance bands and a yoga mat and do a slow and easy 15-minute workout in the evening.
2. Journaling
Journaling is another amazing way to keep track of your mood, write down your fears, concerns or worries and learn ways to better control these. It also will help you to relieve any stress or built up tension and allows for you to self-reflect and improve your mood. Have a read of this article to learn how journaling can help your mental health, here.
3. Stay social
Find a balance between being social and restoring your social battery. This also means staying in contact with friends and family you have overseas, whether its a quick text, a FaceTime with your parents or a relaxed dinner with friends being able to talk to people and express how your day is going, good or bad, it can give you a huge boost in happiness.
4. Healthy snacks
Having healthy snacks around is also important for your mental wellness and can help you with your sleeping pattern!
5. Down Time & Meditation
Give yourself some time to relax and meditate and reflect on your day. You can do this right before you go to bed as it usually helps you fall asleep a lot faster too! There are plenty of meditation podcasts on Spotify, we definitely recommend checking them out! :)
