Originally reported on 27 September 2026 by Mothership.
Honesty note: The opening character in this story is illustrative, drawn from the patterns in the real reporting. She is not a real named person.
She is a counsellor, and the hardest part of her job is not the stories she hears. It is the ones she has to turn away. Not because she does not care, but because there are not enough hours, not enough counsellors, not enough slots in the week for everyone who needs one.
She remembers a young woman who finally gathered the courage to book, only to be told the next available appointment was weeks away. The counsellor watched the woman’s face fall, and wanted to say: I will stay late, I will make room. But she already stays late. She already makes room. The waiting list is not a sign that she does not care. It is a sign that the system is stretched thinner than anyone wants to admit.
What keeps her going is the small, unglamorous work: a follow-up text, a referral that actually lands, a school counsellor who picks up the phone. She knows that a single conversation can change a trajectory — but only if the person can get in the door in the first place.
She does not want pity. She wants more colleagues, more funding, more recognition that mental-health work is not a luxury, but infrastructure — as essential as any hospital ward, as urgent as any waiting list for surgery. Until then, she will keep saying the hardest words in her job: “I’m sorry, not yet.” And she will keep hoping that “not yet” becomes “now” for more people, soon.
What Singapore is actually seeing
Mothership’s 27 September 2026 reporting on the SOS helpline also highlighted the strain on the wider support system: demand for counselling and community mental-health services has grown sharply, while the workforce and funding have not kept pace. SOS itself relies heavily on trained volunteers to meet about 9,000 calls a month, a model that works because of dedication — and that also shows how much of Singapore’s mental-health safety net depends on people giving their time for free.
Source: Mothership, 27 September 2026 — https://mothership.sg/2026/09/sos-9000-calls-a-month/
Getting help
If you or someone you know is struggling, you do not have to face it alone. National Mindline — 1771 (24 hours), WhatsApp 6669-1771, mindline.sg. Samaritans of Singapore (SOS) — 1767 (24 hours), CareText via WhatsApp 9151-1767. If someone is in immediate danger, call 995 or go to the nearest emergency department.
