I’m using grandparents as therapists to tackle Singapore’s mental health crisis

Ellen Lee vividly remembers the man who lived opposite her house growing up in Singapore.

“Most days he would be okay, but then some days he would run around screaming and shouting holding a chopper [knife],” she says.

Ms Lee now understands that the man had a mental health condition, but at the time, aged 11, she was perplexed by his behaviour. She became preoccupied with the question: how could he be helped?

Today, as a younger generation goes through its own mental health crisis the 68-year-old is at the heart of a novel scheme to support them.

The small ultra developed tropical island of Singapore is the economic centre of southeast Asia, with the highest income per capita in the region. It consistently rates highly on scores for quality of life.

But the city state’s economic