A study has revealed that one in 10 Singaporeans will suffer from a
form of mental illness in their lifetime. (Getty Images)
A new study has revealed that more than 10 per cent of Singaporeans
will suffer from mental illness in their lifetime.
Depression is the most common
mental illness here, with about 170,000 adults, mostly women,
affected by it.
From the study of 6,616 people last year, other
common mental disorders identified were obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), anxiety affliction characterised by obsessions,
compulsive rituals as well as intrusive thoughts and impulses,
reported The Straits Times.
The Institute of Mental Health (IMH)
will use these results to provide better mental health services and
policies, as well as develop new ones.
These results were revealed to be in line with
global trends.
Depression, which the World Health Organisation projects
to become the second-leading cause of disability worldwide by 2020,
affects 6.3 per cent of Singaporeans -- 110,000 women and 60,000
men -- at some point of their life. Half of these people will also
suffer from a chronic physical ailment.
However, a slight surprise was the high rate for OCD
in Singaporeans, which affects 3 per cent of people here. The
figure for the United States is 2.3 per cent, while it is 1.1 per
cent in Europe.
IMH were not clear on why this was the case, but
added that it could be both genetic and environment factors such as
developmental upbringing and illness that caused
this.
The study is an important portion of
the National Mental Health Blueprint,
launched in 2007. It comprises of initiatives to promote mental
health, prevent the development of mental health problems, and
reduce their impact.
With the onset of mental illness affecting people in
their 20s, it encourages people to seek help, and not do so too
late.
Mental patients are now taking a higher priority,
with more general practitioners are being trained to care for them.
A first batch of 20 GPs have completed a graduate diploma in mental
health and another 50 have been trained to manage mental
illnesses.
