S1E138: How caregivers of mental health patients can destress

Jul 1, 2025

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Caregiving for persons with mental health conditions is for the long-haul.

Synopsis: Every first Wednesday of the month, The Straits Times helps you make sense of health matters that affect you.

Caregivers Alliance Limited is an organisation that focuses on supporting caregivers of persons with mental health conditions as well as those who have developed mental health challenges due to caregiving.

It has a small outpost at the Institute of Mental Health, where families can seek caregiver support.

In this episode, senior health correspondent Joyce Teo speaks to Ms Evelyn Chng, who is based at the outpost, about the cases that she has seen there, the mental health burden of caregiving, and what caregivers can do about it.

She heads CAL’s Community Outreach Team or Crest programme. Crest, which acts as a mental health first-stop touchpoint, was developed by the Agency for Integrated Care and the Ministry of Health.

Ms Chng also talks about the challenges of caring for her adult son, who is living with obsessive-compulsive disorder or OCD.

Highlights (click/tap above):

2:15 Who are these caregivers who stop by the CAL counter at IMH?

10:15 Recent twists in Evelyn’s caregiving journey

14:40 How Evelyn takes care of herself

17:36 A strict father rebuilds his bond with son who was being treated for depression

24:40 A piece of advice for caregivers of persons with mental health conditions

Check out ST's new series, No health without mental health: https://str.sg/mentalhealthmatters

Read Joyce Teo's stories: https://str.sg/JbxN

Host: Joyce Teo (joyceteo@sph.com.sg)

Produced and edited by: Amirul Karim

Executive producers: Ernest Luis and Lynda Hong