Six in ten Singapore residents say the pandemic has adversely impacted mental health

Among the 17 markets surveyed, Singapore accounted for the biggest year-on-year increase in the proportion of people who experienced this negative impact

The easing of longstanding Covid-19 restrictions in Singapore today could indicate that the nation is making a steady return to normalcy – good news for the mental health of people here, which has borne the brunt of isolation and health stresses over the past two years. An international YouGov survey from October 2021 found that six in ten Singapore residents (61%) say that the pandemic has had a negative impact on their mental health, up from five in ten (55%) who said the same in 2020.

The study, conducted among more than 19,000 people in 17 countries and regions, also found that people in Singapore aged 35-44 are most likely to say that their mental health has taken a toll (70%). Those aged 25-34 are next most likely to feel this way, with more than six in ten agreeing their mental health has suffered (66%).

On a global level, unsurprisingly, people are more likely to say that the pandemic has had a negative effect on their mental health (55%) than a positive (10%) or neutral one (30%). This however is especially so for people in Asia, with Indonesia (63%), India (62%), China (62%) and Singapore (61%) having the highest proportion of respondents across the surveyed markets to say that their mental health has been adversely impacted. The final Asian market, Hong Kong, ranks eighth on this list, with almost six in ten citing a negative mental impact (57%).

Comparing against the results from the 2020 iteration of the study, Singapore also saw the biggest increase in the proportion of people who say that their mental health has suffered a negative impact, with a jump from five in ten (55%) to six in ten (61%). Indonesia accounts for the second largest increase, with an increase in 5 per cent (58% in 2020 to 63% in 2021).

On the other hand, European countries Sweden, France, Denmark and Poland saw the greatest decline in the proportion of people who say that their mental health has been negatively impacted by the pandemic, with Sweden seeing the most substantial fall from five in ten (55%) to four in ten (45%).

Methodology:

Interviews were conducted online between 2 – 11 November 2020 among 21,901 adults, and between 20 September – 1 October 2021 among 19,114 adults.