SINGAPORE AND MENTAL HEALTH

Hun presents interviews conducted with health care professionals in 2021 in Singapore.

As the author reminds his readers, the world is currently going through a mental health epidemic, with more people than ever experiencing various levels of depression and anxiety. He notes that there’s still a stigma attached to this epidemic, largely derived from an often clumsy and superficial conception of emotions. “Our understanding of emotions is largely limited to happiness, anger, and sadness, but what about everything else in between?” he asks. “What about the subtle emotions like guilt, jealousy, shame, disgust, contempt, and envy?” In these pages, Hun presents dozens of interviews he conducted with various health care professionals—doctors, caregivers, therapists, social workers, and others—on the front lines of Singapore’s ongoing campaign to provide the care that many people are only vaguely aware they need. Calvin Eng, president of the Association for Music Therapy in Singapore, for example, notes that “as long as the individual is open to exploring music and being part of the experience,” his own clients can find peace and resolution through his “jam sessions.” Other health care workers discuss the shame some people feel about their worst episodes, and the corrosive effects of stress (“Your mind goes into tunnel vision, and you stop being able to think creatively”). The interviews are uniformly conducted with skill, and the balance of subjects makes for a smoothly engaging read. Hun ensures that the reading experience is also consistently upbeat; the narrative line running through the text and interviews alike is that, no matter how grim things might seem for readers, there’s always hope. “There is always a way out,” Hun writes, “no matter how bad circumstances present themselves to you.” In a sentiment that many will value, he reminds readers that there’s no shame in admitting they need help.

An informative and supportive collection of interviews about mental health.