A Social Experiment on Mental Health Stigma | Beyond the Label

1 in 7 adults have experienced a mental health condition in their lifetime. But what do Singaporeans really think about the people affected by it? To find out, NCSS invited members of the public to a social experiment. Hidden prejudices were revealed and stereotypes were challenged.

Let's unite against mental health stigma. Join the movement. #beyondthelabel

[ABElizabeth]

This is why we don’t tell people we have a mental illness. This is why we hide our pain. Think before you speak. You have no idea what someone is going through. Compassion is everything.

[bolognesesauce]

started crying when the old uncle said "If you have mental illness, you apply for a job, who in the right sense would really want to take you?"
people living with mental illnesses already have it hard dealing with their own minds and the social stigma just makes it worse.
really hope society becomes more open to people with mental illnesses.

[LegendaryProbe]

Thank you so much for this. This video means a lot to me. As a person with clinical depression, I often get people telling me to stop being sad or snap out of it. When the truth is, I’m going through an illness that would take me years of therapy and medication. It’s true that I’m weak, that’s because I’m ill. It doesn’t make me less of a human being.

[leeje.steffie]

“ stay far away from them “




first, rude
second it made me cry because society is so darn cruel but thats just how it is .
im crying omg

[wackymackosaur]

“friends can disappear and i will never hear from them again”

this hit me the hardest lmao especially when those that leave are those that you trust the most

[limsean]

We don’t need sympathy. We just need to be welcomed and accepted. We are no different. We are survivors.

Those that are battling it still, It’s okay to be You. You’re beautiful. ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🖤

[rrwdguc]

it hurts that there are so many students suffering from mental illnesses. for god's sake, they're children. children who should be happy, who should enjoy school with their friends, and learn to embrace learning as a journey, something that can't be fully captured in assignments and grades and examinations. nowadays, so many students have depression or anxiety, or other mental illnesses. i have classmates who are all hurting, who are depressed or anxious or starving themselves. this isn't how it should be. my other friend told me that her friend was cutting and i felt so helpless. we should really make this a priority. how can we help them?
of course, not only children suffer from mental illnesses, but i'm just so worried because of my personal experiences. i feel so burdened, because i'm just so nervous. why are our youth having such issues? we should increase public awareness and get rid of mental health stigma!!!

[jameshiggsboson]

I needed this so badly. I suffer from Clinical Depression and Social Anxiety and I often feel like I can't say anything about it like I'm not allowed to. Stuff like this really helps me out, I hope our current stigmas can change, because after all: "I'm Not My Mental Illness".

[DDyzee]

1:46 proper hurt... You can see it in his eyes and it literally filled my eyes too...

[mylinhnguyen]

“I’ve learned that family doesn’t always know how to support you, no matter how much you need them”
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Ain’t that the truth, relatable as fluff ;-;

[ameliaaa]

i wonder why schools in singapore don't take such mental illnesses seriously then. i wonder why the education system in singapore pushes teenagers to the brink of anxiety and depression without caring. you see, during holidays, students get so much homework and remedial times, there's barely anytime for students to truly enjoy their holiday. this shows that schools don't really care about the student's mental health but more about their education. yes, the counsellors in the school try to help, but the teachers don't really care.. all they do is push the students to the counsellors and some counsellors dont even take their job seriously and since they have so many patients, they tend to just treat them the same and like dont care about how each individual really needs to be treated.

[vamperus]

This makes me grateful for the boss I have, who saw my scars - asked me what it was about and decided to hire me anyway. I've been SH free for 10 months.

[aliciajytee]

I used to struggle with suicidal thoughts due to my disability, and still have depression and I know about the stigma and the misconceptions that people have surrounding mental illnesses but I didn't know that it was till this extent. If these people said this, then how many more out there are thinking like that? Why can't people just get over the fact that mental illnesses just like physical ones? Its something that you cannot control and when it hits, it hits. No one ever expects to be stricken with any sort of cancers, physical conditions and etc, and that's totally the same with MH conditions. We as MH patients, we know that we're sick and we're trying our best to recover but it cannot be possible if society discriminates against us and don't support us.
Please don't tell us, just deal with it, be more positive, why can't you just get over it? etc. Its not so simple. We need your support, we need to take medications if needed, we need to undergo therapy.
To anyone of my fellow sufferers–those who are in the midst of treatment, those who are in remission, those who have yet to seek help: It will all be okay, everything will just be fine. You are loved dearly.
To the public: Please be accepting of us, read up to understand mental illnesses to educate yourself and those around you, learn how you can help, be supportive, show your love, we may be disconnected from society but don’t disconnect yourself from us. “Are you okay?”, while simple, will mean a lot to us. If you know someone who is struggling, reach out to them, encourage them to get professional help.
If you need help, please call the helpline by Samaritans of Singapore which can be found on the internet or the helpline your country offers.
If someone is in immediate danger, or in crisis, call 995 or go to the nearest A&E.

[desireeactionz]

A good video as it serves as a reminder that Singapore really needs more awareness on the different mental health conditions so that more people will understand and learn not to discriminate them. After all, these people are the ones who really need a lot of support. If more people can be educated on the symptoms, perhaps more people would be able to get treatment earlier and get the emotional support that they need.

[anirudhmahida]

Its less than month since I have been in remission of depression. I have been going through this for years . Its an illness that rots you from inside. And no one can understand it except for people who have been through it. And one thing people need to realize is not always does someone have a reason for why they have depression or any mental illness. Most of the time there is no reason, there is no answer to the question "Why?" It was the same for me, I had no reason, my life was good but still I went through it. I have been lucky in the fact that My bestfriend was my biggest supporter and he saved my life multiple times. My mom took some time to understand what I was going through but she kept an open mind and accepted me. She learnt about depression and she supported me through my process of recovery. Its very rare to be so lucky and I know that. If anyone wants someone to hear them out, I am here for you. As while I was lucky not everyone is and that's why I want to be there for you

[Marissa]

This was amazing. 💕 My hat goes off to you. This is a bit of a segue, but what do people think when others use the word 'crazy' when they see someone who is struggling? I lived on a street (since moved) where a woman terrorized her neighbor by screaming how crazy she was, (and gossiped about her to have everyone pass by her house to call her crazy and laugh) because she said she was "always crying" and called her bonkers. This went on for years. She was unaware that her mom passed away, and suffers from #PTSD; and didn't even stop to think or feel what she was struggling with. I just found out she is writing a book on "mental health" and this feels so contradictory to how she treats people, and hypocritical, as well. I'm amazed that she has the audacity to even think she is an expert, because she perpetuates the stigma on "#mentalhealth I was just as bad not to stand up for the woman. I think about her; I hope she is doing well today.

[phytealia]

As a person who goes through depression. I want to say that the strongest are the people that pull through, fight through a battle that you have to live with everyday. The feeling of not wanting to get out of bed but do it anyways for that little hope you have at those times. Hoping my future would be better. I hurt myself mentally to be as normal as possible because I don't want to upset friends and family. Force myself to be HAPPY and all I want to do is curl up and cry. Cry myself to SLEEP and never wake up because it's all too much. But I want to get through this. Have a future. I believe the strongest are those who survive the greatest battles with themselves and try go on with life even if things go bad. I remember the day I cried to my mum and asked for love and comfort because I can't deal with this anymore. I was 11 at that time. She just blamed all her troubles on me and told me I was a mistake. I realised then. I have to look for myself and myself only if I want to have that piece of future I wanted. That little peace of hope. And I didn't want to let it go bc if you let go it all goes crashing down. And you know what that little hope is? Adopt an abandoned and abused cat and give it the best life possible because I thought nobody deserves to go through what I did. I'm 14 almost 15 btw. I chose to adopt a cat bc I relate to them so much. Plus they cute I trying to change the mood from my very depressing thing whatever it is up there XD

[scriptons]

I love this so much. People need to know about whats actually is mental illness, not the everything, but at least know what it represents. HOWEVER, I do not like how they have represented mental illness with just depression. There is a whole spectrum of these things, and each one is so unique.

I think the best way to express it to people is to: replace the word mental illness with any other physical disability, that is the only way neural typicals can understand. There is simply no way for neural typicals to understand how our mind works. Simply, accept us. Accept us as just another different human being with our own unique problems.

[saff]

mental illness can be incredibly debilitating and i’m so happy that a video addressing the social stigma surrounding mental illnesses has finally been made

[idiotstupidboy]

I hope this video goes virals. Traditional stigma still lies within us and I don't blame them. It is because we are not fully educated well enough on social issues. I only wish that stigmas like this die down as we progress. Only then, can we call ourselves a better society