WK 01.lecture 1 Introduction PDF
WK 01.lecture 1 Introduction PDF
Mental Health in
Singapore
Dr Lim Choon Guan
http://www.imh.com.sg/edu_publications.html
Week Topics Readings
No.
1 Lecture 1: Introduction Chapter 1
Mental Health
Mental Illness and classification
(86,679) (82,624)
National Mental Health
Survey of School Children
Prevalence of mental health problems
among primary school children
Woo et al 2007
Basic Facts About Mental
Illness
A medical problem, often arising from
brain chemical changes genes?
Symptoms may change over time
Affects not only the patient but can also
affect the people around them
Causes of Mental Health
Disorders
Environment
Brain Genes
Mental health problems are
costly for all…
Direct cost of services & treatment
Indirect cost
On caregivers (family, society)
Trigger for other physical health problems
E.g. Excessive stress linked to heart disease & cancer
Opportunity cost
Lost productivity & employment
E.g. Employees (at 3 major American companies) with chronic symptoms of depression were twice as likely to
report missed workdays
Diabetes mellitus
10% Cardio-vascular
20% diseases
7%
Mental disorders
19%
Work environment
Rapid changes & development, job uncertainty
Threats
SARS, Avian flu, terrorism