Thankfully, she never took that drastic step. With the encouragement of a friend, Sandra took a leap of faith and reached out to Limitless, a non-profit organisation that provides counselling services to youth struggling with mental health issues.

For three years, with the help of her counsellor Megan, she learnt to counter irrational thoughts and prevent herself from spiralling into suicide ideation.

"I knew I had reached a big milestone when I no longer needed crisis management from Limitless," said Sandra, who is now 21. "It's like a breath of fresh air to finally have hope for the future."

 

Giving youth a new lease on life

Sandra is just one of 2,000 beneficiaries whom Limitless has helped in the last six years.
The organisation was set up by its current Executive Director, Asher Low, in October 2016 with the help of just a few volunteers. Prior to Limitless, Mr Low was a social worker at a family service centre and also conducted risk programmes in schools.

In 2017, Limitless was officially registered as a non-profit organisation. "We realised that there was a very real need to provide mental health services to youth as such services were not easily accessible or available," said Mr Low.

The World Health Organisation estimates that one in seven adolescents aged 10 to 19 worldwide experience mental health conditions which remain largely unrecognised and untreated, with suicide being the fourth leading cause of death among 15- to 19-year-olds.

Today, the Limitless team consists of 16 full-time social workers and counsellors, two fundraisers and an administrative-cum-finance assistant, on top of a big team of volunteers who help out with events and act as befrienders and listeners on SAFEHOUSE.

SAFEHOUSE, launched in 2021, is a discord channel for youth aged 13 to 25. The service aims to build a supportive online community for youth to turn to in times of need, be it youth who are not yet ready to seek professional help or who need extra support in between therapy sessions.

Limitless' other main services include a 24-hour helpline and private counselling sessions with its team of therapists for youth aged 12 to 25. Mr Low shared that Limitless' young clients "decide where they feel comfortable having their therapy sessions". This could be at a void deck, a café or even over WhatsApp. Sessions are usually heavily subsidised or free, depending on their family and financial circumstances.

 

Overcoming limitations

As Limitless' team of social workers, counsellors and psychologists are mostly clinically trained in trauma-focused therapy modalities, ensuring affordability for their clients while hiring quality professionals is a big challenge.
With a constant demand for their services, expanding his team has always been a priority for Mr Low. However, obtaining the funds to accomplish this objective remained a challenge.

In 2021, there were 937 youth who reached out to Limitless for help, up from 373 in 2020. "Because of a lack of manpower, our staff often had to work overtime and sometimes refer clients to other social service providers, which is not ideal," he explained.

Thankfully, the Maybank Momentum Grant, administered by philanthropic organisation The Majurity Trust, gave Limitless the financial support it needed through an interest-free recyclable grant to expand its services and to serve the increasing number of young people so no one would be turned away.

"Maybank's financial support helped us hire two fundraisers last year. We now have a robust fundraising strategy that will help us better sustain the organisation and the work we do," Mr Low said.

He has big plans for Limitless. "In the next two years, we hope to have enough mental health professionals on our team so that every young person who reaches out to us can get timely and adequate support and treatment in a safe space."