Trigger warning: This episode contains references to depression and other mental health disorders. Listener discretion is advised. The pandemic has certainly shed light on the issue of mental health in Singapore. The mental health of youths especially is becoming an increasing concern, but what exactly are the issues youths are facing today that make them more vulnerable to facing mental health problems than previous generations? Is social media the reason for it or can social media even be helpful in supporting these youths with mental health conditions?
On the final episode of the second season, host and Associate Director at the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) Liang Kaixin chats with Dr Jacqueline Tilley, Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychology at the National Institute of Education, as well as Asher Low, the founder of Limitless, which is a non-profit organisation that provides counselling for youths, to talk about the mental health struggles youths face, and also the struggles they face seeking help.
Find out more about youth mental health:
About our guests: Dr Jacqueline Tilley Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychology at the National Institute of Education (NIE) Jacqueline is an Assistant Professor with the Psychology and Child & Human Development Academic Group at the NIE under the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and a US-licensed psychologist.
Her research focuses on understanding risk and resilience factors in youth mental health among Asian families. Jacqueline has a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Southern California, USA and an M.Phil. in Education and Psychology from the University of Cambridge, UK. She has specialised clinical experience working with high-risk adolescents and adults across both public and private sectors in the United States, Hong Kong and Singapore.
Asher Low Founder of Limitless Asher is the Founder and Executive Director of Limitless, a non-profit organisation that work with youths between 12 and 25 years old who are facing mental health woes. He is a trained social worker and has been working with youths for over 10 years. He also has experience working in the youth, family and prison sector. He is passionate about improving the mental health landscape in Singapore.
As a member of Tote Board’s Gifting Circle for Children and Youth Mental Health, he seeks to explore how various stakeholders in the mental health landscape can better support youths with mental health conditions and facilitate the prevention of these conditions through trauma-informed work. In 2019, he was also awarded The Straits Times Generation Grit Award.
On Diversity is a podcast inspired by the Institute of Policy Studies Managing Diversities research programme. In each episode, we chat with guests to explore what diversity means to them, the changes they are making, and the changes they hope to see in an increasingly fragmented society.
More from On Diversity- Season 2 Episode 8: What Makes Us Singaporean, with Matthew Matthews, Principal Research Fellow of IPS and Head of IPS Social Lab, and Oon Shu An, Singaporean actress and host
- Season 2 Episode 7: Homelessness, with Harry Tan, IPS Research Fellow, and June Chua, Co-founder of T Project
- Season 2 Episode 6: The Young vs The Old, with Kanwaljit Soin, Orthopaedic and Hand Surgeon, and Teo Kay Key, IPS Research Fellow
- Season 2 Episode 5: The New Civil Society, with Carol Soon, IPS Senior Research Fellow and Head of Society and Culture, and Woo Qiyun, Environmentalist and creator of The Weird and Wild
- Season 2 Episode 4: Diversity in Elite Schools, with Gillian Koh, IPS Deputy Director and Senior Research Fellow, and Paul Jerusalem, master’s student at NUS
