MOH launches first-ever 24h national mental health helpline & textline

From Jun. 18, 2025, Singaporeans seeking mental health support will have access to a 24-hour national mental health mindline.

The mindline, launched by Senior Minister of State for Health Koh Poh Koon and a panel of mental health professionals on Jun. 18, functions in three ways: through a telephone hotline by dialling 1771, via WhatsApp at +65-6669-1771, or through an online webchat on the website, depending on the individual's preferred mode of support communication.

It will act as a first point of contact for individuals in need of support, playing "a vital role in early interventions, offering initial support and guiding individuals to suitable care options", MOH said in a press release.

All forms of communication will be confidential and help-seekers can choose to remain anonymous, which will provide a safe space for them to seek help without fearing stigma, MOH added.

About 30 full-time counsellors and staff with extensive mental health experience will operate national mindline 1771 and refer individuals to a range of support systems, from general practitioners (GP) trained in counselling to family service support, Koh told the media on Jun. 18.

For emergency cases involving harm to self or others, professionals at the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) will be contacted.

MOH added that this system will in turn help mitigate the progression of mental health issues and reduce the need for acute and emergency services.

Koh called the launch of national mindline 1771 "an important milestone in our national mental health strategy", adding that its accessibility will help cater to a diverse range of spectrums of society, "from young children to teenagers to working adults or even retirees and older people".

Comparing it to existing mental health helpline services like Samaritans of Singapore (SOS) and Tinkle Friend, which provide direct advice and support to suicide contemplators and primary school children respectively, Koh said that national mindline 1771 is a central "wayfinding service" that primarily directs help-seekers to relevant resources that can better meet their needs.

"A person who's really facing a lot of mental stress may not have a lot of bandwidth, and certainly may not have a lot of time to go around getting lost in the system. So this is really about shortcutting the process for them and making them feel that help is just really at the fingertip away", Koh said.

He explained that national mindline 1771 is intended for use both in peacetime and in times of national crises, such as during a pandemic, so that it can "form the base for search capacity" by bringing in officers from various agencies trained in psychological first-aid.

With the launch of national mindline 1771, IMH's current Mental Health Helpline number at 6389 2222, which was launched in 2007, will be discontinued.

From Jun. 18, 2025 to Sep. 30, 2025, all calls to the former IMH helpline will be responded with a message stating that the number is no longer in use, before being automatically forwarded to a counsellor at national mindline 1771.

A pilot programme will also be launched in late-2025 to recruit and train volunteers in counselling, psychological first aid and crisis management to assist professional counsellors at the community level, MOH announced.

Top photo by Khoo Wen-en/Mothership