Annual mental health checks, easing parental consent rules: 5 suggestions by MPs to enhance youths' well-being
SINGAPORE — Could young people aged 14 to 18 seek some mental health treatments without parental consent? This was among the suggestions on how to enhance youth mental health made by several Members of Parliament (MP) on Tuesday (Feb 6).
They raised their ideas during a debate on a motion tabled by five People's Action Party MPs from the Government Parliamentary Committee on Health, led by Dr Wan Rizal, MP for Jalan Besar Group Representation Constituency (GRC).
Seven MPs are part of the committee.
The motion seeks to recognise the importance of mental health and calls for a national strategy to enhance mental health and well-being.
On Tuesday, 23 MPs addressed the House and 13 other MPs and political officeholders are expected to participate in the debate on Wednesday.
During Tuesday's six-hour session, MPs raised various suggestions to enhance mental health support, such as ensuring insurance providers cover people with mental health issues and providing caregivers and freelancers with additional support.
TODAY dives into the suggestions made by the MPs that are related to youths.
1. ADJUSTING AGE REQUIRING PARENTAL CONSENT
As suicide is the leading cause of death among people aged 10 to 29, West Coast GRC MP Rachel Ong said it is important to encourage help-seeking among youths.
To do so, she suggested adjusting requirements for parental consent for mental health treatment. Common law states the age of consent is 21 years old in Singapore
"Some do not want their parents to know at the onset, especially if parents are unsupportive," said Ms Ong on why some youths do not seek mental health help.
"Some fear disappointing parents, or believe it would further burden their already burdened parents. There are also instances where parents have declined medication for their child simply because of the stigma."
Noting that youths can drive and bear arms during National Service at the age of 18, she called for the age of consent for mental health services to be 18 years old.
For those aged 14 to 18, Ms Ong called for the Government to implement tiered guidelines for the types of mental health services that would or would not require parental consent.
For example, access to mental health screenings or basic counselling would not require parental consent, while interventions requiring medication, hospital admission or surgical procedures would require parental consent.
She suggested that should parents be absent or unwilling to make decisions beneficial for the child, the Ministry of Social and Family Development could step in.
Alternatively, the Gillick Competence Test — which determines whether a child under 16 can consent to their own medical treatment without parental knowledge — could be used, said Ms Ong.
2. ENHANCING MENTAL HEALTH LITERACY
Sembawang GRC MP Mariam Jaafar shared an anecdote of one student's struggles with mental health involving anxiety over academic performance and sessions with the school counsellor that were "not particularly helpful".
"She developed self-harming behaviours, in part influenced by her peers, and then made her first suicide attempt," said Ms Mariam, who was tearful as she spoke.
The student found solace in Australia after moving there for university as people were "much more open about their mental health", with disability support plans available to students with physical and mental health issues.
Looking to Singapore's education system, Ms Mariam, who is one of the MPs who tabled the motion, called for an increased commitment towards mental health literacy — starting at the preschool level.
To do so, Ms Ong suggested taking a page from the United Kingdom, where resources developed for Children's Mental Health Week are based on feedback from primary and secondary school students on what and how they would like to learn.
3. UNDERSTANDING YOUTHS' MENTAL HEALTH NEEDS
Several calls were also made to understand youth's wants when it comes to mental well-being and mental health access.
Ms Mariam, for one, asked about the pattern of needs among youths in the primary care setting as she called for general practitioners (GP) to play a greater role in administering mental health services.
"In the context of youths, we should assess whether youths prefer a different setting from the GP setting, such as specialist youth drop in centres," she said.
Ms Hazel Poa, Non-Constituency MP from the Progress Singapore Party, also asked if there has been a study done to understand possible causes or common risk factors among those with mental health issues.
This could be whether they have supportive environments such as family, friends and teachers or whether there are risk factors such as poor performance in work or schools.
4. MENTAL HEALTH ASSESSMENTS FOR YOUTHS
Ms Poa also reiterated a call to conduct mental health assessments for students.
She had made the call during a parliamentary sitting in July 2021 after a teenager killed a fellow student in River Valley High School.
"This can be in the form of questionnaires that measure stress level, anxiety and depression," she suggested.
"Conducting a mental health assessment each year using developed tools will help us identify students who need help and proactively reach out to them so that we can prevent such a tragic incident from happening again."
She added that such tools include MindSG and Mindline, which allow users to do digital self-assessments on their mental health risks and stress levels.
Ms Ong similarly suggested that such mental health assessments should be part of annual health screenings for students.
5. INCREASING MENTAL HEALTH SUPPORT FOR YOUTHS WITH SAFEGUARDS
In her call to strengthen support networks in schools, Ms Poa questioned how many teacher-counsellors are deployed in schools and what is the counsellor-to-student ratio.
"These are crucial metrics that define the effectiveness of mental health support in our educational institutions and should be tracked as part of our national mental health strategy," she said.
Several MPs made calls to ensure vulnerable minors are protected when seeking mental health help.
They include Workers' Party MP He Ting Ru of Sengkang GRC, who suggested mandatory background checks for those who work with children.
"Setting up a regulating body with input from bodies such as the Singapore Association for Counselling and Singapore Psychological Society will ensure a universal standard of care... and ensure that there is at least a baseline level of training, expertise and ethical practice that underlines the provision of such services," she said.
