A brief history of psychiatry in Singapore

Abstract

The development of psychiatric services in Singapore during the last 150 years can be divided into four distinct, albeit overlapping, phases: (1) the origins of the Lunatic Asylum; (2) the interruption caused by the Japanese Occupation, and the post-war years; (3) the training of local psychiatrists and mental health professionals; and (4) the development of general hospital psychiatry and community mental health services. Early psychiatry in Singapore was essentially British psychiatry as an outpost but modified by local conditions. Modern psychiatry in Singapore has its roots in Singapore's colonial past and is strongly influenced by Western psychiatry. It has come a long way since its humble beginnings when the first mental hospital was established in 1841.