Why Singaporeans Still Hesitate to Seek Therapy: What the IMH Mind Matters Study Found

Picture this: you have been feeling low for weeks, sleep is patchy, and work feels harder than it should. A friend gently suggests speaking to someone. Your first thought probably is not “yes, let me book an appointment.” For many Singaporeans, that hesitation is real, and it has been studied closely by the Institute of Mental Health (IMH).

The Mind Matters study, first conducted in 2014 to 2015 and revisited in 2022 to 2023, surveyed thousands of residents to understand how people here think about mental illness and what they believe actually helps (Picco et al., 2016). The findings paint a picture that many of us will recognise: even when people know something is wrong, getting to a therapist’s office can feel like the hardest part.

What the Study Actually Found

The original Mind Matters survey asked over 3,000 residents aged 18 to 65 how they would respond to someone showing symptoms of depression, schizophrenia, dementia, alcohol abuse, or obsessive-compulsive disorder. Rather than recommending professional help, the most common suggestion across several conditions was to simply talk to family or friends (Picco et al., 2016). The findings suggest that recognising a mental health concern is often only the first step. Deciding to seek professional support can be a much more difficult hurdle to overcome.

A follow-up analysis from Mind Matters 2023 compared attitudes nearly a decade later and found some encouraging movement. More residents rated psychiatrists, psychologists, and counselling services as genuinely helpful compared with 2015 (Shahwan et al., 2024). That said, informal sources of support, such as family, friends, and religious leaders, still rank highly, sometimes above professional care. So the gap has narrowed, but it has not closed.

Separately, the Singapore Mental Health Study 2016 looked at how long people wait before seeking treatment after symptoms first appear. The delay was substantial, often stretching across years rather than months, particularly for conditions like anxiety and mood disorders (Subramaniam et al., 2020). These delays may allow symptoms to become more persistent and increase their impact on daily functioning, relationships, and overall quality of life.

Why the Hesitation Persists

There is no single reason people put off therapy, but a few themes show up again and again in local research and in everyday conversations.

• Stigma still lingers. Even with more open conversations online, many people worry about being labelled or judged, especially within tight-knit family or community circles.
• Uncertainty about effectiveness. A notable portion of respondents in related youth surveys expressed doubt about whether professional help would actually make a difference, which naturally reduces motivation to try it (care.sg, 2024).
• Not knowing where to start. Some people simply do not know the difference between a counsellor, a psychologist, and a psychiatrist, or how to find a provider that suits their needs and budget.
• Cultural expectations. In many Singaporean households, emotional struggles are still seen as something to manage privately rather than something to bring to a stranger, even a trained one.

Younger residents are not exempt from this either. Conversations around millennial & gen Z mental health have grown louder in recent years, yet awareness does not always translate into action, particularly when cost, time, or family expectations get in the way.

The Cost of Waiting

Delaying treatment rarely makes a mental health concern disappear on its own. It tends to make daily functioning harder, whether that shows up as trouble concentrating at work, strained relationships, or a general sense of being stuck. The Singapore Mental Health Study 2016 noted that people who eventually did seek help generally found it beneficial, which raises an important question: if treatment tends to work once accessed, what would it take to shorten that gap between symptom onset and getting support? (Tan et al., 2023)

Part of that process involves demystifying therapy. For many people, the unknown is more intimidating than the experience itself.

An initial therapy session usually focuses on understanding your concerns, discussing your goals and exploring how therapy may be able to support you.

Small Shifts That Help

A few practical mindset shifts can make reaching out feel less daunting:

These shifts may seem small, but they can gradually challenge some of the beliefs that continue to discourage people from seeking support.

A Gradual but Real Shift

The good news buried in the data is that Singapore’s attitudes are moving, even if slowly. Comparing the two waves of Mind Matters shows growing recognition that professional care has a place alongside informal support networks rather than instead of them (Shahwan et al., 2024). That is a meaningful shift, and it suggests public awareness campaigns and easier access to services are having some effect.

Getting from awareness to action is still the harder step for many people. Recognising a problem does not automatically make the first phone call easier, and that is where accessible, approachable care becomes so important.

If any part of this resonates with you, or with someone close to you, reaching out sooner rather than later tends to make a real difference. ImPossible Psychological Services offers a supportive, judgement-free space to talk things through with a qualified professional, whether you are dealing with everyday stress or something more persistent.

References

Picco, L., Abdin, E., Chong, S. A., Pang, S., Shafie, S., Chua, B. Y., Vaingankar, J. A., Ong, S., Tay, J., Kwok, K. W., & Subramaniam, M. (2016). Beliefs about help seeking for mental disorders: Findings from a mental health literacy study in Singapore. Psychiatric Services, 67(11), 1246–1253. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ps.201500442

Shahwan, S., Tay, E. H., Chong, S. A., & Subramaniam, M. (2024). Perceived helpfulness of various sources of help for 5 mental illnesses. European Psychiatry, 67(S1). https://doi.org/10.1192/j.eurpsy.2024.448

Tan, R. H. S., Koh, Y. S., Vaingankar, J. A., Abdin, E., Sambasivam, R., Chong, S. A., & Subramaniam, M. (2024). Treatment delays for mental disorders in Singapore: results from the Singapore Mental Health Study 2016. Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology, 59(2), 375–383. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-023-02440-0