> [!info] **Why am I curious?** > **Why am I curious?** I have a personal interest in this subject. As a regular traveler to Thailand and having Thai friends, I often wonder about the mental health landscape there. Do they have similar mental health services as in Singapore? Considering their cultural differences, do mental health issues manifest in a similar or different way? What are the perpetuating and protective factors? For instance, is Buddhism, the predominant religion in Thailand, a protective factor? What about stigma associated with mental illness? How do people explain mental illness and their experiences? I understand that it’s not about imposing a “Western” or “developed country” template on Thailand. Instead, it needs to be localized and contextualized to fit the unique local settings. ## Mental health - 510 Senior high school students in Samut Songkhram have low mental well-being despite moderate mental health literacy. (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/396145299_Mental_health_literacy_and_mental_well-being_among_senior_high_school_students_in_Samut_Songkhram_Province_Thailand) - How come? - Academic compeition and exam pressure - societal and economic pressures -- inadequate infrastructure, quality of life, access to education, economic hardship, chronic stress - Rapid social and technological shift.. exposure to more competition from peers from outside. - Developmental Vulnerabilities during this period of late adolescence Actually Singapore kids not doing that much better... "[Of those aged 15 – 35 years, 14.9%, or about 1 in 7 youths, reported having severe or extremely severe symptoms of depression in the past week before the survey was conducted. Such symptoms include feeling sad, empty and a lack of interest and pleasure in activities, most of the time](https://www.imh.com.sg/Newsroom/News-Releases/Documents/NYMHS_Press%20Release_FINAL19Sep2024.pdf)." (Universal: Competition, developmental vulnerabilities, family/social systems.. ) ## Early Intervention Services - [[Lay health worker-delivered case management for earlyepisodes of psychosis in Bangkok, Thailand (Lay-CARE)]] Duration of Untreated Illness (DUI) - "Average 10 years" ! That's long.. how come? - https://www.researchgate.net/publication/352359112_Duration_of_untreated_period_of_psychiatric_conditions_in_Thailand Association between trauma exposure to psychotic experiences. This is pretty consistent with other studies - https://www.researchgate.net/publication/352213149_Traumatic_events_and_psychotic_experiences_a_nationally_representative_study_in_Thailand