IMH launches third nationwide survey to assess mental health in Singapore

SINGAPORE – The Institute of Mental Health (IMH) has launched its third nationwide survey to capture the state of mental health in Singapore, a decade after the last study revealed a sobering rise in mental health conditions.

The three-year Singapore Mental Health Study (SMHS) will offer the first full-scale assessment since the Covid-19 pandemic. For the first time, it will include younger teenagers as participants and will also include eating disorders, which have emerged as a concern among young people.

Its scope will expand to encompass the protective factors of positive mental health.

The SMHS, being the sole nationwide study here to use internationally validated measures to assess the prevalence of mental health conditions, will provide the robust population-level data needed to guide mental health policy, said Associate Professor Mythily Subramaniam, the study’s principal investigator.

IMH’s 2016 study showed how the mental landscape of Singapore had shifted since a survey in 2010. It found that one in seven people aged 18 and above had experienced a mental disorder in their lifetime, up from one in eight in 2010.

Prof Mythily said the upcoming study will offer insights into the pandemic’s longer-term impact on mental health, including groups that may still be struggling.

Crucially, it will assess teenagers aged 15 to 17.

“Adolescence is when many mental health conditions first emerge and by capturing data from this age range, we have a critical window for early identification and intervention,” said Prof Mythily, who is assistant chairwoman of the medical board (research) at IMH.

IMH’s National Youth Mental Health Study of general psychological distress in September 2024 showed that about one in three young people had reported experiencing severe or extremely severe symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress.

The SMHS will measure how many meet the criteria for specific mental health disorders like major depressive disorder, general anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa and binge-eating disorder.

The addition of eating disorders was prompted by findings from the IMH study, which showed that body image concerns, alongside excessive social media use and cyberbullying, play a major role in the mental health crisis afflicting Singaporean youth.

Beyond tracking disorders, the latest SMHS will pivot towards positive mental health, since mental health exists on a spectrum.

“If we focus only on illness, we’re reacting too late. By looking at positive mental health and protective factors, we can go further upstream, strengthen what keeps people well and put in place programmes to address issues early,” said Prof Mythily.

By evaluating how resilient people are, alongside other factors such as a sense of belonging, social support, quality of life and attitudes towards help-seeking, the study aims to uncover the protective factors that keep people well, she said.

If a person develops a mental disorder but continues to have high self-esteem and positive mental health, the person may have better outcomes and even less severe illness, she added.

Prof Mythily said the study wants to investigate whether positive mental health and self-esteem can be a buffer against the onset of mental disorders.

For instance, can such factors prevent a person from developing a mental health disorder even after experiencing severe adversity, she asked.

Data collection is slated to begin in May 2026 and will continue until August 2027, with results expected to be released by early 2029.

Around 6,000 residents aged 15 and older, randomly selected from a national database, will be invited to participate in this study through face-to-face and online surveys.

Selected participants will be recontacted after six months to understand help-seeking behaviour and overall well-being over time.

SMHS is led by IMH in collaboration with KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital, and funded by the Ministry of Health.