PUBLISHED ONFebruary 21, 2024 7:47 AMByMelissa Teo After learning that someone close to her was migrating overseas, Ashley Poo, who was already struggling with her academic studies, began to feel high levels of stress and loneliness.
The unexpected changes in her life also made her mental health take a turn for the worst and she found herself struggling to cope.
"I had trouble functioning normally – even daily activities such as concentrating in class became a struggle," the 24-year-old recounted in an interview with the Ministry of Health Office for Health Transformation (MOHT).
While studying, she took on a part-time job, which kept her occupied.
"I started to isolate myself and found it hard to socialise. Work became my coping mechanism; I remember immersing myself in work for hours on end as it provided some sort of distraction."
But the self-isolation eventually led to burnout and Ashley began to feel exhausted and unmotivated.
Helpless, she tried looking for a solution and discovered Let's Talk — a digital peer support forum which harnesses the power of online communities to create support networks for young people.
After sharing her mental health challenges and daily struggles on the forums, she received responses from professionals as well as her fellow peer supporters on the platform.
"They advised me to establish clear boundaries for work hours and dedicate time for breaks to avoid burnout. Additionally, they encouraged me to engage in self-care activities to find motivation and meaning outside of work," Ashley shared.
Initially, Ashley found it hard to reduce her time spent on work-related activities.
However, a therapist on Let's Talk known by their user name Cottonsoul encouraged her to view the shift from using work to cope to embracing self-care activities as a gradual transition.
"I was advised to compile a list of hobbies and interests, then gradually replace the extra hours spent on work with these activities," recounted Ashley.
"Additionally, Cottonsoul emphasised the importance of allocating time in my schedule for these activities, starting with small, manageable goals to build motivation for engaging in self-care."
Now, Ashley regularly engages in a variety of self-care activities to prevent burnout and also has hobbies such as exploring sites around Singapore and doing arts and crafts.
Another individual who found solace in the Let's Talk forums is Ho Yue Ling, 24, who found herself trapped in a cycle of overthinking and anxiety due to relationship issues.
She recognised that she needed help as her mental health was on decline. Through the forums, she managed to connect with others who provided understanding and guidance.
"When I wrote my first forum post, I received many encouraging and empathetic responses," recounted Yue Ling.
"They assured me that I am not alone, and that there are many other users on Let's Talk that would be willing to help me through my struggles."
While she was in the midst of a particularly challenging period, Yue Ling also reached out for professional help on the platform.
"I was dealing with a lot of overwhelming emotions and had difficulties processing them. Luckily, a therapist on Let's Talk provided me with resources such as deep breathing exercises, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy activities and mindfulness exercises to help manage my emotions.
"Having 24/7 access to these resources really helped in my recovery," said Yue Ling, adding that she sometimes would even attempt grounding exercises on the train ride to school or reflect on her thoughts and emotions when resting at home.
What made the experience better for Yue Ling was being able to be anonymous on the platform, which she says is good for people who fear judgement.
"Since you’re anonymous, you can feel comfortable sharing your thoughts without worrying about being judged. This also encourages more genuine and candid conversations about mental health."
Let's Talk was soft launched in 2023 and is an initiative under mindline.sg, a mental health platform developed by MOHT in consultation and collaboration with the Institute of Mental Health (IMH).
The platform was developed collaboratively with students and young working adults who contributed insights on the common mental health challenges faced by young people in Singapore.
Some of these challenges include academic stress, relationship issues and pressures in living up to expectations from self and parents.
They also shared barriers individuals may face when dealing with such problems, such as the fear of stigma and judgment when seeking help on mental health, past negative experiences, a lack of awareness of help resources, as well as cost considerations.
The platform was actually inspired by other community discussion sites such as Reddit.
"The youth team spoke to our friends and families to get ideas and inspiration. Many of them mentioned using open forum sites like Reddit to discuss topics like exams, peer pressure and relationship issues," revealed Tricia Tan, one of the young adults who contributed to the co-creation of Let's Talk.
"Our team started conducting observations on these sites and we noticed that some youths would also share about their mental health concerns within these discussion threads. This inspired us to create our own version of 'Reddit' designed specifically to address the mental health concerns of youths in Singapore."
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Some features of the platform include Ask-a-Therapist, where users can pose mental health-related questions to a panel of qualified professionals and receive a response within 24 hours.
There's also Hangouts, which is a virtual space for users to discuss various topics ranging from student life to adulting.
All engaged therapists on the platform are registered under recognised professional counselling bodies, including the Singapore Association for Counselling.
In addition to providing professional mental health support, the forum also offers opportunities for trained peer supporters to apply their skills.
Organisations such as the Health Promotion Board (HPB), National Youth Council (NYC), schools and other non-profit organisations provide training for young people to become peer supporters, which helps volunteers acquire fundamental knowledge and skills essential for effective peer support.
One such individual who became a peer supporter on Let's Talk is Viandra Goenadie.
She shared that the training sessions emphasised the importance of active listening and ensuring that youths feel heard and understood.
"Many youths feel lost and alone in their struggles, so it's essential for peer supporters to lend them a listening ear," she said.
"Our goal as peer supporters is to validate their emotions, direct them to available help resources, and most importantly, encourage them to seek the help they need."
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