Survey Finds 45% Of Singaporeans Pretend To Be Happy, Harder For Men To Talk About Mental Health

Mental Health In Singapore

While the pandemic has disrupted our lives in many ways, one positive outcome for which I’m grateful is the normalisation of conversations around mental health. However, despite more people speaking up, it appears that the state of well-being is not improving, according to the results of the Global Wellbeing Report 2023 by lululemon.

Some of the key findings include 45% of Singaporeans pretending to be happy, and 50% of Singaporean men finding it hard to talk about mental health. Read on to find out more about the study. 

The study

Conducted across 14 markets worldwide, each with 1,000 respondents, the study revealed that 72% of Singaporeans consider well-being a top priority. Yet, despite this positive result, 48% of them feel that achieving well-being is impossible. 

The reasons? The absence of a post-pandemic morale boost, and the increasingly harder-to-overcome barriers to well-being, such as societal pressure. 

Case in point, 46% of the respondents surveyed in Singapore indicated that the pressure to conform due to societal pressure negatively impacts their well-being. 45% also feel the need to pretend to be happy, even when they are not due to societal pressure. 

When focusing on the demographics, the study shows that 50% of the male respondents in Singapore mention that society has made it more difficult for them to speak up about mental health than women. 52% of Singaporean men also find it harder to express their emotions due to societal expectations. 

On the other hand, 39% of Gen Zs in Singapore feel that social media negatively impacts their mental health. 2 out of 5 Gen Zs also admit to spending too much time on their phones when their well-being is low. 

 

As suggested by the study, one way to improve is learning from those with higher well-being. For instance, individuals with high well-being participate four times more often in free community-based workouts than those who don’t. This means we can consider joining sports interest groups to break a sweat and expand our social circle. 

Most importantly, we also need to work on expressing our needs to our loved ones. Since 72% of those with higher well-being are more vocal about their needs in friendships and relationships, we can aim to do the same by starting with small steps. 

Take Care Of Your Mental Health & Work Towards Having A Higher Well-Being

As the saying goes: “Patience is a virtue.” Good things take time, especially when it comes to improving our mental health and well-being. In honour of World Mental Health Day 2023, which falls on 10 October 2023, luluemon will be addressing challenges to achieve better well-being, and eliminate stigmas through its “Find Your Wellbeing” campaign. 

Interested folks can find out more information about the campaign on lululemon’s Instagram.

Cover: TheSmartLocal

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