SAF reviewing policies as mental health cases rise
The incidence of mental health problems among soldiers in the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) is rising, reflecting the growth of such problems among the Republic’s youth.
To address this trend, senior psychiatrists from the public and private sectors are working to keep the SAF’s mental health policies up to date.
Among other things, these volunteers have recommended changes to the SAF’s medical classifications for psychiatric conditions to ensure that soldiers serve in appropriate capacities.
SAF Psychiatry Specialist Advisory Board (PSAB) member Christopher Cheok revealed this on Oct 3, citing recent surveys by the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) and the Ministry of Health that showed about one quarter of young people in Singapore rating themselves as having very poor mental health.
“Because we take in much of the male population into national service, (these statistics) will also be reflective of the state of affairs within the SAF,” he said.
Dr Cheok, who is chief of forensic psychiatry and senior consultant at the Institute of Mental Health, was one of 387 volunteers recognised by the Ministry of Defence (Mindef) for their contributions on Oct 3.
At a dinner at the Paradox Singapore Merchant Court Hotel, Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen said Mindef’s medical boards – the PSAB and the Medical Advisory Board – have helped the SAF ensure that it deploys enlistees properly and safely.
“Many of you know that among our young, psychological conditions have seen a significant rise,” he said.
“That is happening in schools, we see them when they enlist, and if we didn’t have the expertise to deal with it, people might lose faith in national service.”
Dr Cheok said that such trends are why the SAF must, from time to time, adjust its mental health policies to accommodate broader societal realities.
“By helping the SAF review their policies, our decisions as PSAB actually affect several thousand people at once if we move the needle up or down – a great number of servicemen,” he said.
Dr Ng said that these boards, as well as other volunteers, have helped Mindef build trust and confidence among Singaporeans in the SAF’s ability to defend them, and to respond adequately when called upon.
The minister cited research done in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, which showed that trust between people and those in authority was the deciding factor in how a society fared.
“In this instance, trust – an intangible factor – led to real life and death consequences… I start with that because all of you here help us to build trust,” he added.
Speaking to The Straits Times on the sidelines of the event, Dr Cheok noted that many changes have been made to the mental health landscape in the SAF over the last 10 years of his tenure on the PSAB.
One significant move was the creation of the Mindef/SAF Mental Health Office in 2022, which brought psychiatrists, psychologists and counsellors under a single structure, he said.
Before that, records were not shared between different care providers, as they had separate IT systems and reported to different parts of the organisation.
The result is that servicemen today have better access to a broad range of medical and psychological services, Dr Cheok said.
Keeping medical classifications up to date is also necessary to help more people serve in the right capacity and meet the SAF’s manpower needs despite falling birth rates, said Professor Philip Choo, chairman of the SAF Medical Advisory Board.
Prof Choo, who is also deputy group chief executive of the National Healthcare Group, added: “We have had to continually evolve to deal with a smaller and smaller population while having to keep that population fit enough to be able to do what SAF needs to do.”
Understanding of mental health conditions has also evolved, noted Dr Cheok.
“For example, just because you have ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) as a child doesn’t mean you cannot serve national service because the vast majority of people will improve with age,” he said. “By adjusting policies and trying to match a person’s current ability to the right path, this is how we can influence the manpower situation.”
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