Destigmatising mental health

November 3, 2021

In the wake of a COVID-19 world, concerns on mental wellness have come to the fore. Such conversations are not easy to have, but an interdisciplinary team decided to tackle the stigma of mental health upfront.
Fresh Statistics graduate Wellace LEONG and his friends from NUS Psychology - Sean TOH, Coco YAU and Karen LEE - sought to address this issue by co-founding a student-led initiative, called SPECTRUM.

SPECTRUM seeks to normalise mental unwellness by encouraging students to enrol with friends. This creates a safe space, which the team hopes will encourage students to pick up the courage to be vulnerable by sharing openly about their mental health struggles. It also seeks to strengthen interpersonal relationships, so that students will care for others emotionally.

Sean, who founded SPECTRUM, said, “Students tend to think that so many of our problems are minor and transient, and we would eventually get through them ourselves. This nearly cost me my life.”

Wellace adds, “We desire to conscientiously help students gain the courage to share their own struggles and empower them towards a resilient student community.”