Mind Over Matter

Overwhelmed by the pressures of adjusting to the new normal? Maybe it’s time we hop on our feet and sweat it out. It’s more therapeutic than you think

- Syed Zulfadhli

THE TOPIC OF MENTAL HEALTH isn’t new. However, there is greater and more widespread concern about mental wellness now that almost everyone is experiencing the compounding stresses precipitated by the pandemic. According to a Channel News Asia report, 71 people between the ages 20 and 29 committed suicide this past year.

Back in March, early on in the pandemic, one positive way to view lockdown measures to mitigate contagion was that they forced us to slow down and take stock of our lives and offered a small respite from the seemingly ceaseless rat race. By and by, economic issues and social isolation brought about a new set of stresses and the world scrambled to find solutions to problems it never experienced, at least on this scale, before.

Locally, the Ministry of Health reported that the number of calls made to the IMH Mental Health Helpline increased by 60 per cent between April and July this year, compared to the number of calls made during the same period last year. Statista also shared that even though 70 per cent of the nation claimed that their mental state was unbothered during the initial stages of the Circuit Breaker, 20 per cent of Singaporeans noticed that the state of mental health was on the decline.

This may not be an official report, but while following over 2,000 people between the ages of 20 and 45 on social media, we noticed that the number of people were openly complaining have significantly increased, mostly lamenting about fatigue from frequent digital meetings and work from home arrangements. What used to be a platform for sharing happy moments with friends and family have now transformed into a moshpit of misery. This seemingly confirms the reports that we’ve seen on society’s poor state of mental health.

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