Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan said promoting an emotionally resilient society is one of the government's top priorities - in good times or bad.

To build psychological resilience of Singaporeans during the economic downturn, he said a public education campaign on Optimism for Mental Resilience will be launched next month.

'This aims to reach every Singaporean, with the message that 'bad times don't last forever', and motivate everyone to take charge by adopting a positive attitude so that they will emerge stronger from this crisis,' said Mr Khaw in his written response to questions from Dr Lam Pin Min, MP for Ang Mo Kio GRC, in Parliament on Monday.

Asked if there are more people seeking psychiatric or psychological help in hospitals in recent months, Mr Khaw said there has been a steadily increasing number of such patients due to greater awareness and reduced stigmatisation of mental illness.

Last year, there were 17,000 new attendances at public psychiatric clinics, a rise of 900 compared with 2007.

'This increase was consistent with the trend seen in the past 10 years,' said Mr Khaw.

On mental health programmes, the minister said the Health Promotion Board (HPB) has an active nationwide workplace programme, called 'Treasure Your Mind', but in light of the economic slowdown, it has updated the programme to help working adults manage the daily stresses 'with a practical and positive frame of mind',

HPB will also work with various agencies, unions and NGOs to help reach out to vulnerable employees and their families. Also in the pipeline are talks, seminars and forums to be conducted at community libraries and other public venues to address the impact of the current economic crisis.