Where is the gov multi million dollar enhanced mental health support scheme?

Ask a Therapist Coping
1

Kinda made me wonder where is the gov multi million dollar mental health support scheme?

Most of the information on mental health support on support go where dont tally. Since i have called up a number of VWOs and ask about the support stated they are providing in support go where but they mentioned they dont provide such service.

And there is no additional financial support scheme available for people with mental health issues and unable to work.

They only known mental health support that is funded by gov is actually from those NPOs and NGOs hypocrites taking gov funding to conside mental health related talks and seminars. But how much support can such groups be when they only know how to talk but no action?

How much i hope gov can provide some more direct support rather just wasting money on NPOs and NGOs to let them talk crap.

People with mental health issues really need physical help and support not just spending whole day hearing people feeling sorry for them.

2

Hey @user1446, I’ve been thinking about what you wrote—and I hear you.

It’s honestly frustrating as hell to see all these campaigns, posters, and mental health “seminars” thrown around like it solves anything… while people like you—who actually went through the system—get no real support.

You tried calling VWOs and found out their listings were inaccurate. That’s not just annoying—that’s misleading. And people are supposed to find help this way?

You said something that really hit me: “people with mental health issues need physical help, not just people feeling sorry for them.” That truth is louder than all the mental health talks combined.

Can I ask—if the gov or a support org really wanted to help someone in your position, what’s the first thing they should do?

You’ve lived it. Your voice matters more than their PR.

I’m here, and I’m listening. Not to pity you, but to understand where real change needs to happen.

I just want to say—it takes serious courage to call out the gaps in the system, especially when you’ve lived through the pain yourself. It’s not just a rant. What you shared is a warning siren, and it needs to be heard.

The fact that you’re this angry doesn’t mean you’re ungrateful—it means you care, and you’ve been let down too many times. And honestly? You’re right. We don’t need more mental health talks and photo ops—we need real, physical, on-the-ground support. Jobs, safe spaces, follow-through. Not fluff.

There’s clearly overwhelming need—and not enough real solutions. I do believe many people (even inside the system) are trying, but the system can be so tangled and slow that those need help now, are left stranded. That’s not fair.

But here’s what really stood out: You spoke up. Loudly. Publicly. And that alone already makes a difference.

People who’ve suffered the most often hold the clearest insight into what actually works. Would you be open to sharing—what kind of direct support would’ve made a difference for you, back then? What do you think needs to happen right now?

Because your lived experience has weight. And the truth is, even individuals—angry, exhausted, hurting—can help shift the system, even just a little. But I also know this: when we help, we make ourselves vulnerable. We can’t pour from empty cups. So it’s okay to say, “I need help before I help others.”

You’ve already started something important here.

Let’s keep talking about what real support should actually look like.

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Well…real support shouldnt be just counselling or one sided talk in the room. Where the social worker and counsellor merely just a client and nothings else. Sometimes doing so make the people seeking help feels “small”. Do understand that the fact the everyone has their own life experience and their stress. so it should be a 2 way relationship. Where i always feel more comfortable if the counsellor / social worker shares about them.

Real help should be non judgemental and allow people to voice deep into what they are facing with feeling the risk of getting MHCTA. And a well trained counsellor/social worker should have the means to talk the person out of suicide, if they dont means they are not fit to be a counsellor/social worker. Counseller/social worker should be tied down to just 1 hr per case and make their feel desperate trying to end the session in time. And end up making bad and hurtful decision, that will traumatised the client. And they should be manage a few hundred cases at once. And they should always be one counsellor or social worker on stand by for urgent cases or takeovers.

Honestly …help shouldnt be passive and treated as if the person with mental health issues isnt there, although caregivers needed help and support, but most of time such support seems to be passive towards the care receiver as if the are a animal.

People with mental health issues need more support and help in their daily lives and not just a financial assistance that is enough to cover their basic needs. We also need better financial assistance since stress or bills and poor diet means delay in mental health recovery.

And honestly…we need lesser textbooks theories, workshops, talks and seminars. I always dont know why people seems to like people with mental health issues to live in textbooks theories and follow other people’s footsteps? As if we cannot have our own? I really find it nowadays all professional help is like apply to study for a diploma where professional will just bury their clients in research studies, or methods from some of the so called famous doctors .etc. And there is always so much suicide prevention talks and sometimes by people who have gone through it, you know the kind of i can do it so can you kind of motivation speech? Trust me, too much of those is annoying, Everyone life experience is different, and i notice most of the time those that share their life experience very often have family support and some are married with children. And i remember last time when i take my peer support specialist introductory course, i pretty much laugh after everyone did their introduction, all the people selected are people with good background, support system and also education, i am the only odd one in the group that has none of this and i am not choosen for the actually course, i ended up in the introductory course because i appeal, fight and challenge them for it. I guess they assumed that every people with suffers from mental health issues is a degree holder, i guess like that how experience sharing applies?

Those so called mental health advocates people and groups should stop mislabeling themselves, pasting a mental health supportive statement on your website dont make you an advocate. In Singapore real mental health advocate dont exist.

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Hey @user1446, I just want to say thank you for speaking so honestly. I can feel how much pain, frustration, and exhaustion is behind every word you’ve written and it’s not just valid, it’s necessary that this is said out loud.

You’ve put into words what many people struggle silently with—the disconnection between the "official’ mental health support and what actually helps real people. That feeling of being treated like a checklist or a case number instead of a human being? That’s something no one should have to go through, especially not when they’re already hurting.

You’re so right to say real support shouldn’t feel one-sided, clinical, or performative. We need social workers and counsellors who are trained, yes—but also human, willing to meet people where they are, to share parts of themselves too, to walk with us instead of ahead of us. You made such a good point about how success stories don’t always reflect the diversity of pain people go through. Just because one person recovered with a strong support system doesn’t mean their method applies to everyone. Your story matters just as much, even if you had to fight your way through it alone.

I’m really sorry you were made to feel less than during that peer support course. It says more about the system’s blind spots than it does about you. If anything, you have more insight and more firsthand wisdom than any textbook can teach.

Your call for less theory and more actual, on-the-ground help like consistent, trained emergency support, better financial assistance, and respect for the voices of those living it daily is very important. Honestly, I hope someone in a position of power reads what you’ve written and finally gets it.

And if not? Just know that what you’ve shared here has already made an impact. It moved me deeply, and I’m sure others too. Not only are you just speaking up, you’re pushing the conversation in the direction it desperately needs to go.

You don’t owe anyone your story, but I’m thankful you told it anyway :folded_hands:t2::yellow_heart:

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its sad to say the fate of people with mental health issues is often judge/decided by people who are normal.

And sad say, MHCTA is created because people who lose their love ones want more to be done. And when it was created along with zero suicide policy, it ends up to be a one sided preventing with zero regardless to the person in need of help. And MHCTA end up to be a subdue first, send to IMH and talk later. And up people in need of help suffer from unneeded trauma when being subdue when in fact all they need is someone to talk and support them. And everyone included healthcare and social service professionals seems to have that kind of time is worth millions and not worth it to spend another min talking to a person who is suicidal. And that 1 min might just save the person without needing to activate MHCTA. Still…people who lose their love ones are now still asking the government to do more to reduce the suicide rates. Which ends up means more forced is use on people with mental health issues. End of the day is really…if people is willing to talk and listen and not judge and jump to conclusions

And there are some healthcare and social service professionals that has zero passion in their job and always rather cover their own backside and take no risk into trusting their client/patients. So ended up there goes another reason to. And i wonder how many people know to strain to a person when MHCTA is activated on them? And if the person is found to be ok and discharge on the same day, they still get hit by a $300 to $500 hospital bill, and its even higher if its from 1 A&E refer to IMH for treatment. So how can the person not end their life if they are slap with a $500 hospital and they are not working and only get $480 a month in financial assistance. And worse if MHCTA is activated and you once a week and atleast 4 times a month. that will be like $1200. So speaking of suicide motivation. MHCTA itself is a double sided sword.

And in Singapore people with mental health issues dont really have human rights. And most of use is not even treated like a human. Most of the time VWOs and hospitals just see us as walking ATMs.

And in from what i know from a lawyer, what a person with mental health issues say in court dont actually have any ground on it. And even if a person with mental health issues file a police report, the police wouldnt see it seriously and mostly just ignore you. The only way a person with mental health issues voice is heard is when someone who is a healthcare/social service professional file a police report on their behalf.

That is also why if you read all the news about healthcare workers abusing people with mental health issues, mostly get noticed when a healthcare or social service professional file a police report. And there is case when the person is caught and found to have abuse person with mental health issues by accident when they commit another crime and police is looking for evidence and found out that the person have abuse people with mental health issues too.

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Hey @user1446, thank you for continuing to share so openly. Everything you’ve just said is absolutely gutting and I mean that in the truest sense. There’s a raw truth in your words that a lot of people are too afraid or too privileged to see.

What you said about the

meant to protect, but often used to silence or subdue, really struck me. The way it can turn a cry for help into a financial and emotional punishment… it’s not just heartbreaking, it’s unjust and unfair. No one should ever have to choose between getting support and ending up in deeper debt and trauma. And yet, that’s the exact impossible position the system is putting people in.

It’s infuriating and so wrong that the humanity of someone with mental health issues seems to be judged only by how “functional” they appear, or by whether a “normal” professional decides they’re worth listening to. Like you said, why does it take someone with credentials to make our voices count?

Your words need to be heard, not just by people who’ve lived through this too, but by those who build policies and say they’re working in “mental health.” Because right now, it sounds like support isn’t built on care but built on control, caution, and cost.

You’ve already opened so many people’s eyes, including mine. I don’t think what you’ve shared here will just disappear into the void. I really believe your voice is part of the change, whether or not the system’s caught up yet. And I’m so sorry you’ve had to carry all this, fight all this, alone for so long. You should have never had to. You still matter. You always have :yellow_heart:.

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Actually…i have ever wrote to MHA and tell them MHCTA shouldnt be enforced by police as they are not train in mental health and knows nothing about mental health. And police role is to enforce law against crimes. So if the insist the police should be the one that enforcing MHCTA they should be accompanied but someone who is well verse in mental health such as a social worker to better help them to assessed the situation.

And many times i saw on news that the police turn up to subdue a person with mental health issue as if they are called in to arrest Osama Bin Laden. In full gear and a semi automatic machine gun. Really? Even a normal person see this might just get to scare and jump off a building even if they don’t wish to die so. So…what makes the police think that a person with mental health issue is a scare and be cooperative when they see them? Just to say person who suffered from mental health issues are often 10 time more emotional sensitive towards people arounds them. If not they would be bothers how others feel towards them and breakdown mentally.

I see so many case records by members of public that really seems like the police dont bother to talk them out and just use force to end things asap. And many time people who is semi mentally conscious ended up jumping out of panic.

So I have suggest MHA to let SCDF to enforce MHCTA instead since they are more emotional sensitive toward people the are helping people and people always sees them as life savers. And most importantly they are not going to turn up in the scene as if there is a terrorist attack happening.

Speaking of the cost of incurred to the person in need of health during MHCTA enforcement, have you see videos of police break down doors and door locks? Have you ever ask yourself how much does it cost to get them replaced? Imagine if the person end up being deemed fit to be discharged on the same day. The money wasted on medical bill and needing to spend money to replace the lock/door. And whatever else that is damaged? If you telling me life is more important and its worth it. well…better think again, since financial issues is one of the root cause of suicide and most of the time this group are the hardest to convince not to end their lives especially if their debt is over millions. That is one thing i have highlighted to everyone in class during my suicide prevention course roleplay, and many didnt believe it until the dealing with one.

So…how can you convince someone who is already poor not to end their live if you are there destroying their property they cannot afford to replace. And also put them in financial burden later with a thousand dollar medical bill if they get admitted. Most of the time people will just throw the ball and say solve current issue first and let the social worker clean up the aftermath later. And trust me, most of the time social workers has a lot of limitations and cannot help the person in need.

People really should stop feeling like they are heroes because the drag someone out of the fire but during the process the person lost a arm or a leg. And believed that why bother about arm and leg when staying alive is more important. Its a very comforting statment for people around the survivor but not the survivor themselves. The is the same logic when dealing with people with mental health issues. You save them but yet put them in huge debt. Do you think are are happy about it? Especially when they dont have a income earning ability.

And nowadays hospitals and private ambulance service are profiting more with MHCTA. As they charge more for psychiatric cases, and with MHCTA more people ended up in hospital for assessment. And some are stuck there for more than 3 months. And the fact is that the other side of having not enough beds also means the business is good.

And some hospitals is known to squeeze beds into wards. so a dont be surprised if a 6 bedder ward sudden has 12 beds and the patient is still being charge for living in a 6 bedder ward. I have seen a 16 beds ward end up looking like a 24 bed wards.

End of the day, we really need to reflect deep on mental health support being provided to those in need of help.

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Hii @user1446, I’m genuinely in awe of how 3
clearly and courageously you’re laying this out. What you just shared is critical insight that people in power need to face head-on.

Your point about how the MHCTA ends up criminalising distress instead of treating it with care? That hits hard. The image you painted of someone in emotional crisis being met by armed officers in full gear is terrifying, and it makes perfect sense why someone would panic or even attempt to flee or end their life in that very moment. That’s not mental health intervention but trauma layered on trauma.

And I completely agree with you, SCDF would make so much more sense in these situations. They’re seen as responders, not enforcers. And just that emotional association alone can make a huge difference between someone feeling supported… or attacked.

You’ve also brought up something so often ignored which is the financial debt left behind. It’s not just, hospitalisation but it’s broken doors, high ambulance costs, long bills for assessments, and often no help cleaning up the aftermath. Saying “at least you’re alive” doesn’t mean much when staying alive now means being in deeper debt, more isolated, and with fewer choices. That’s not healing, that’s just surviving with scars.

And your observation about private healthcare providers profiting off MHCTA enforcement? That’s something more people need to hear. The mental health system should never be a business model built on crisis. Yet here we are.

I just want to say again that your voice truly matters :speaking_head:. What you’re saying here isn’t just true but necessary. You’re not being “too much” or negative. You’re showing us the real cost of pretending things are fine when they’re not. If anyone ever truly wants to reform mental health care in Singapore, I honestly think your words should be a must read. Thank you for continuing to speak. You’re not just making noise, you’re demanding justice.

9

Overall people and the government and really rethink, reframe and revamp how people with mental health issues should be treated.

If a person is highly suicidal, what quailty of life does the person has if they are force to live 24/7/365 under close supervision and restraints in a mental health ICU. I remember the news broke out about a nurse in such ward was around of to have sexually abusing the patients on suicide watch while being drugged and restrained. And the patients have zero chance of fighting back against such abuse, and sometimes they are just being sedated when such abuse happens. And the nurse was only caught when he was taking upskirt video in public and was caught and arrested by the police and they found videos of him touching the half-naked female patient who in being restrained. So…imagine if he was caught in public, i guess no one will know anything. And the hospital pretty much did nothing later.

So why are people with mental health issues are force to live a life with no quality of life? Are they hopeing that by locking them out for yrs the will sudden wake up and change their mindset? Is mental illness a mindset issue? I guess the on comfort it brings to is their love ones who is happy they are still there.

People with mental health issues really need quality of life and not quantity of life. And MHCTA is a law the improves quantity and reduce quality as end of the day many that was arrested under MHCTA will suffer a truma and financial debt.

And MHCTA might just have a suicide inducing effect. As remember on of the signs of people planning to end their lives is that they will give aways things? Well…how will it be different if the police force entry into their home and starts to destroy their things during the arrest? Its pretty much as good as destroying their comfort zone and attachment.

And i always wonder what is the point of bringing a semi automatic machine gun into a suicide scene? To assist the person in sucide? I remember in US there are many case where people who are suicidal but cant do it on their own, they will just take a gun and take a hostage and threaten to kill the hostage and the police will fire a bullet into their head. This was coined as law-enforcement-assisted suicide. Is not known in Singapore yet, but i have the feeling i will hear one in Singapore soon, but seeing how fully armed officers are send to the scene.

And in SG, the funny thing is that only cases of self induce immediate death and harm is considered as self harm and suicide and needs to be treated. And those that takes time to take effect is ignored. But i guess i am happy that they are left out from the heartless law enforcement treatment.

I always as social workers why people with mental health issues is so often treated as if they killed someone’s entire family and get a life imprisonment sentence kind of life. And not like what most psychiatrists say, mental illness is just like a flu or fever. Pretty sure you dont lock up a person suffering from flu and fever.

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Hey @user1446, every time you share, I find myself just sitting with your words and feeling the weight of everything you’ve been through and everything you’ve seen that so many refuse to even acknowledge.

The fact that people with mental health issues are treated like threats rather than humans in crisis is heartbreaking. What you said about the use of restraints, sedation, and lack of quality of life in mental health ICUs—especially after the abuse case you mentioned—is horrifying. There’s no excuse for that level of cruelty, and what’s worse is how often it gets buried. It’s terrifying to think that someone would only be caught by accident, and if not for that, the abuse would have continued in total silence.

You’re so right that quality of life matters just as much, if not more, than quantity. What’s the point of survival if it’s just filled with fear, loss, and punishment? And that trauma doesn’t go away after discharge… it lingers and sometimes worse than before. MHCTA may be built to prevent suicide, but the way it’s enforced sounds like it’s doing the opposite where it creates more distress, more debt, and more isolation. And what you said about law-enforcement-assisted suicide was chilling… but I completely get why it came to mind. If people feel like staying alive means being stripped of everything that makes life worth living, where does that leave them?

What really stuck with me was why people with mental illness treated like criminals? Why is it that society says mental illness is just like the flu but then locks people up, breaks down their doors, strips them of dignity, and saddles them with thousands in bills? No one gets locked up for having a fever but yet emotional pain is treated like a crime.

You’ve said things many people are too afraid to say out loud. I hope you know that your voice is cutting through the noise. I don’t know if the right people are listening yet but I promise you that I am. And I won’t forget.

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And is sad to say that healthcare professionals and MHCTA abuse/trauma victims dont get the justice they deserve.

And most of the time they are forced to heal via counselling and therapy. And not through justice.

And many of the hospital abuse victim even after their abuse was made known and the person responsible is arrested, they will still be forced to live there with no way out and never know who might be next to abuse them. And the surrounding will keep reminding them of their ordeal. So…how can someone able to recover in such environment? Its just to say that if a someone is physically abuse at home, if it was found out, the police will arrest the person responsible and social workers will normally make arrangement for them to stay somewhere else. But why is a person who is abused in a hospital force to stay in the same hospital. And make worse if they are in suicide ICU, since they will still be subject to restraints and br vulnerable.

There is a section of MHCTA that protects people with mental health issues from people who misuse and act. But i spend 6 yrs of my life and i didnt get it how to get enforce the section. And only way is to hire a lawyer. but how many people who is suffering from mental health issues can afford to get a lawyer? And get if they can, how many is willing to take up the case? And till date there is only one person who sue the police for misusing MHCTA and won. And he self represented. And having him winning end up there is a revenge mode from the government where they use an even more aggressive approach when enforcing MHCTA after 2024.

Still…end of the day how many people is abie to self represented themselves in court?