Singing away the blues
Aspiring local singer-songwriter Bryan Chua, 20, has released his debut single Artist, to raise awareness about depression and self-harm.
The self-written song was released in February. In it, Chua intertwines the issues with imagery of art and creativity.
His lyrics and music video both display a heartfelt narrative, with the message "you are never as alone as you think you are".
Chua said: "The song was very much inspired by the lives of the people around me and to some degree, my personal life.
"Beyond raising awareness, the song is to encourage people to realise they are not alone."
According to the Singapore Mental Health Study conducted in 2010 by the Institute of Mental Health (IMH), as many as 1 in 17 Singaporeans have suffered from Major Depressive Disorder at some time in their life. It is one of the top three mental health disorders in Singapore.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has also made depression the focus of World Health Day 2017, which is today.
Artist is a piano-driven track that is part of The Artist Campaign, a campaign Chua is helming.
Supported by national outreach and mental health check programme Community Health Assessment Team (CHAT), the campaign aims to encourage conversation on mental health.
"One of the things that come with mental health issues is the stigma", said Chua. "The idea is to get people talking about it, so that it can be dealt with better in our society."
Recent statistics from the Samaritans of Singapore show that in 2015, 27 people aged between 10 and 19 killed themselves, more than twice as many as the year before.
Last year, the NurtureSG taskforce was introduced, with the aim of enhancing physical and mental health of Singaporean children. CHAT was also set up in 2009 to help and support youths with mental health concerns.
For more information on depression, IMH is conducting a talk at the TreeTop at *SCAPE tomorrow, from 3pm to 6pm.
Titled Depression: Light After Darkness, it aims to enlighten people on the condition, as well as how to provide support to sufferers. To register, visit www.imh.com.sg/events/.
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