Actually…one biggest misconception about mental health issues in Singapore is that all mental health issues requires medical interventions by a psychiatrist.
And most just forgot to explore their needs step by step, i was once told by a caseworker that everyone in a certain point of their lives will suffer from some point of mental health issues.
And from what i notice is many people often magnify their treatment needs.
In Singapore, we are heavily dependent on psychiatrists for mental health treatments. While many people didn’t know that, psychiatrists are only trained to prescribe medication to treat mental health issues. And very often, medication doesn’t help to treat the root of the issue, but only just the surface. And so often, people end up finding that they need to be on medication for the rest of their lives. Still…you rarely can get other forms of treatment from a psychiatrist unless they are informative enough to refer you for to proper treatment. And most people will find their entire life ruined because they end up with a psychiatrist who only provides medical interventions.
And with more and more mental health awareness going on, more and more people think that once they are stressed, they need to see a psychiatrist to get medical treatment for it. And yet that was dead wrong.
Sadly, our gov is heavily depending on psychiatrists as the primary mental health solution and promotes it as such. So much so, people start having that kind of impression that people with mental health issues must and are only able to get proper treatment in IMH.
A nice fun fact, throughout my 24 years of mental health help shopping, whenever I can tell a healthcare or social service professional that I am a person with mental health issues. 9 out of 10 times, their response to this is, Which doctor are you seeing in IMH. So…in return, I will tell them, you assumed that IMH is the only place that provides mental health treatment? And most were like, oh…where did you seek treatment then?
Honestly, as a hospital abuse victim, i will never recommend anyone to go straight to seek help from a psychiatrist, as 9 out of 10 times people tend to walk out the psychiatrist room with medication and nothing else, and they will just ask you to see them 1 month later and see if you get better and decide if how to move on from there using medications.
And I find that, seeking help through a Family service centre or Social service agency that specialises in mental health. Is actually the best solution. And let the assigned caseworker see what is best for you, sometimes talking to them is all that is needed. And sometimes, maybe somewhere, you can go to spend meaningful time in helps. And most of them just know where to refer you to. And if medical intervention is really needed will either accompany you to see one or tell you where to seek help.
Still…if you have the $$$$, private mental health support is so much easier to navigate, unlike public mental health support, private mental health support’s frontline is actually a psychologist and not a psychiatrist. And the charge by hr.
