Mindfull - Mental Wellness Application
1. Defining Mental Health
According to the World Health Organization (WHO) mental health is “a state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community”. When we talk about mental health conditions, we’re usually referring to conditions that hinder an individual’s “state of well-being”.
2. State of Mental Health in Singapore
According to the Singapore Mental Health Study, one in seven Singaporeans have experienced a mental health condition in their lifetime. The three most prevalent conditions are major depressive disorder (one in 16 people), alcohol abuse (one in 24) and obsessive compulsive disorder (one in 28). Some of these conditions are especially concentrated amongst the young and the old.
For example, an estimated 18 percent of Singaporean youth (15-24 years old) live with depression. Meanwhile, therapy groups such as 0’Joy, a voluntary welfare organisation looking after the mental health of seniors, witness a 26 per cent increase in the number of clients in August and July during the year 2020. Thus, it is important for Singaporeans to understand the significance of having good mental health.
3. Benefits of Good Mental Health
The first benefit of being mentally healthy is emotional stability. Being emotionally stable allows individuals to respond positively to negative situations. It guards against unhealthy behaviours such as lashing out, allowing one to maintain positive interpersonal relationships.
The second benefit is linked to physical health., Having a mental health disorder can raise your risk for diseases such as stroke, heart disease and even type 2 diabetes. Thus keeping mentally healthy has tangible implications for your physical well being.
4. Mental Health Scene in Singapore
Singaporeans have become increasingly aware of the importance of mental health and are not afraid to talk about their struggles on public platforms. Unfortunately, awareness alone is not enough. Things like therapy, counselling services and others should be made more prominent in Singapore too. As a young adult, I have many friends who find themselves in negative mental states but are often unwilling to do anything about it.
The biggest reasons are:
- Being unsure of where to receive help from.
- Being unsure if they have a mental health disorder or are simply feeling “down”.
- Social stigmas against seeking help.
According to our better world “Singapore has one of the lowest rates of psychiatrists and psychologists per 100,000 residents among similar high-income nations. Singapore has 2.8 psychiatrists for every 100,000 residents, compared to Australia’s ratio of 13.5 psychiatrists per 100,000 residents.” Unfortunately, training qualified psychologists takes up a huge amount of time and resources. The urgency of the situation requires us to think of alternative solutions
5. Mindfull
With the help of Gametize, I wanted to create a mental health app for young people using gamification elements.
Mindfull is meant to be an application on mental health wellness. It is meant to be a community driven application. This means that users are allowed to interact with one another by sharing their stories and completing challenges on the app.
According to our better world “Singapore has one of the lowest rates of psychiatrists and psychologists per 100,000 residents among similar high-income nations. Singapore has 2.8 psychiatrists for every 100,000 residents, compared to Australia’s ratio of 13.5 psychiatrists per 100,000 residents.” Unfortunately, training qualified psychologists takes up a huge amount of time and resources. The urgency of the situation requires us to think of alternative solutions.
Mindfull is split up into numerous books in order to easily guide your journey to learning about mental health. These are the books in order:
1. Book One Introduction
- This is an introduction to the Mindfull application.
2. Book Two Our Stories
- This book is meant for Singaporeans to talk about their mental health experiences and share ways on how they cope with their struggles.
3. Book Three Help Centers
- This book acts as a collection of most of the help centers available in Singapore including Samaritans of Singapore and safespace, among others.
4. Book Four Academy
- This book acts as a repository for players to educate themselves on the various mental illnesses.
- Players will be able to learn more about the common ailments like Depression, Alcoholism, Anxiety, Schizophrenia, and Bipolar Disorder.
- Player will also be actively tested on what they learned through a series of flashcards and challenges within this book.
5. Book Five Social Media
- This book acts as a resource where players can easily learn more about existing organisations in Singapore that actively work to combat the stigma against Mental Health.
Where to play
Mindfull is only available on iOS and Android as a mobile application. They can be downloaded below.
Do note that you must create a Gametize account to log in to the application. You may do so via our landing page.
Published on 26 July 2021