Crafted the survey to obtain 3 key information:
The attitude of the Singaporean community towards mental illness
Singaporeans’ understanding of mental illness
Singaporeans’ awareness of the mental illness stigma
from my target audience:
Below 12 — Above 32
I managed to gather 38 responses in the survey. These are the survey finding and analysis on the mental health stigma in Singapore.
From here, most survey participants are aware that part of our mental health is influenced by the society we live in / surrounding people.
In this section, I wanted to test out the participants’ knowledge on mental illness.
5 / 38 participants agreed that mental illness is a sign of a weakness.
According to research, this is a misconception in Singapore/Asian cultures as mental illness is associated with the person as “weak”, who gives up easily or does not work hard enough. This group of people are strong-oriented and expect that having a mental illness is something you can easily get over with.
2 / 38 participants agreed that people with mental illness (in general) bring harm. This is also a misconception. People with mental issues are often portrayed in media as serial killers, as opposed to real life. This negatively influences the viewers’ perspectives on mental illness.
9 / 38 participants do not know where to seek help for mental health issues.
I was quite taken aback by this significant number considering it is about 25% of the survey participants.
1 / 38 participants think that such labels are harmless.
5 / 38 participants do not seem to be sure?
According to research and observation, psychiatric name-calling contributes to the mental illness stigma.
From here I was able to gather my insights on the misconceptions of mental illness among Singaporeans.
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In this section, I wanted to know how much people are aware of the stigma in Singapore.
Most suggested that the main issue surrounding this matter is the stigma — about how mental illness is looked at in a negative light and discriminated. Survey participants are aware of the fear of being discriminated if they have a mental illness. It is associated with many misbeliefs and misunderstandings like psychotic tendencies, shame, weakness, laziness, lack of self-discipline.
Hence these are the first things that people visualise and come to mind with the word ‘mental illness’.
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From this survey question, most survey participants indicated there should more awareness created. Most suggested talks by the government and schools, education on mental illnesses, making mental illness a widespread topic. Some have stated that maybe people should be treat each other in nicer ways, and be more empathetic.
In other words, survey participants indicate that knowledge and understanding about mental health is vital to lead a change in people’s attitude.
In summary:
The survey definitely has given me some insight to approach the matter from different points of view.
Through analysis from the survey, the causes of concerns are:
1. Lack of knowledge of mental illness & negative media influence → lack of compassion and understanding towards suffering of individuals → discrimination and taboo of subject, unfair treatment
2. Not knowing where to find help if experiencing mental health issue–
Different ways to approach mental health issue:
Mental Health ⇄ People
5 + 1 TYPES OF AUDIENCE
1. People suffering from mental illnesses [intervention]
Relieve the stress and pressure they face / Educate about self-esteem
2. General public’s perception towards mental illness [prevention / intervention]
Educate / raise awareness about mental illness to develop understanding and empathy
3. Family / friends / caregivers of people who suffer from mental illnesses [intervention]
Relieve the stress and pressure they face taking care of the person / Educate about mental illness
4. Older generation / parents / youth / teenagers / children in general [prevention / intervention]
Educate / raise awareness about mental illness to develop understanding and empathy
5. Social service employees (social workers / therapists / psychologists) [prevention / intervention]
6. Combinations of the above
