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20s	Description - back to top
1928	A new Mental Hospital comprising the main building with 24 wards was constructed. The ‘New Lunatic Asylum’ at Sepoy Lines and the ward at Pasir Panjang were closed down and a total of 1030 patients were transferred to ‘The Mental Hospital’. Dr E.R.Stone, medical superintendent from 1928 to 1934, introduced farm work in 1928.
30s	Description - back to top
1931	Malaria treatment was used to treat General Paralysis of the Insane (GPI).
1935	Dr B.F. Home was medical superintendent from 1935 to 1950. A new Mental Disorders and Treatment Ordinance was introduced in 1935. The term ‘lunatic’ was changed to ‘person of unsound mind’. Doctors were given the power to admit patients and voluntary treatment was allowed. Two more wards were added in 1935.
40s	Description - back to top
1942	About 500 mental patients were transferred to St.John’s Island before Singapore surrendered to the Japanese forces. After Singapore’s surrender 800 civilian casualties were transferred to the Mental Hospital, which was transformed into the Japanese Civilian and Military Hospital.
1945	After the Japanese surrender the female section was converted into the RAF Hospital while the male section the Japanese Prisoners of War Hospital.
1946	The Mental Hospital was returned to its original function to house 440 mental patients.
1947	Dr B. F. Home introduced electroconvulsive therapy.
1948	Dr B.F. Home introduced Insulin Coma Treatment. The Dental Clinic and Laboratory Services were started.
50s	Description - back to top
1950	Dr J. Browne was medical superintendent from 1950 to 1958. Histamine Shock Treatment was tried out in 1950.
1951	The Mental Hospital was renamed Woodbridge Hospital (WH). Final Year Medical students attended a course of instruction in mental diseases. The X-Ray unit was installed.
1952	A further revision of the Mental Disorders and Treatment Ordinance, Temporary Treatment was introduced. With the improvement of accommodation and treatment facilities since 1949, the realization of the need for modern methods of treatment began to express itself by 1952.
1953	Carbon Dioxide therapy and pre-frontal leucotomy were carried out. WH was recognized for the Conjoint Diploma in Psychological Medicine. Psychiatric Outpatient Services were started at Singapore General Hospital.
1954	Psychiatric School of Nursing was set up. Penicillin was used for the treatment of neurophillis. The year also saw the construction of four new blocks of two-storey buildings (which became the Chronic Sick Unit premises subsequently) and one new block (Green Groves)
1955	Two new departments (Psychiatric Social Work and Occupational Therapy) were formed. The antipsychotics Rauwolfia and Chlorpromazine were introduced.
1956	Psychological services were started. A new three-storey Nurses Hostel was built.
1957	The Mental Disorders and Treatment Ordinance was amended to allow the police to take a person directly to WH. Outpatient clinics were started at Bukit Timah, Paya Lebar and Kallang Dispensaries. Dr Wong Yip Chong, qualifying in psychiatry, became the first Singaporean psychiatrist.
1958	Dr E.C. Winslow was Medical Superintendent (Acting) and Dr Burton Bradley was Medical Superintendent (on contract). The antidepressants isocarboxazide and imipramine were introduced.
1959	An antianxiety drug chlordiazepoxide was introduced. The psychiatrists of WH worked in two units. A one-storey building was constructed to house the inmates from the New Market Home who suffer primarily from mental retardation. The building was subsequently renamed ‘Mental Defective Unit’. The Mental Disorders and Treatment Ordinance was further amended to require the police to bring the patient to a registered medical practitioner instead of directly to Woodbridge Hospital.
60s	Description - back to top
1960	Dr Yap Meow Foo became the first local Medical Superintendent.
1961	The medical store was converted into the Recreation hall.
1963	The Chronic Sick Unit was transferred to WH.
1965	A rehabilitation committee was formed.
1966	The female Occupational Therapy Department was transferred from Green Groves Block to a ward next to the male Occupational Therapy Department.
1967	There were three clinical units at WH. Outpatient clinics at Maxwell and Queenstown dispensaries were opened. Ten houses in Trafalgar Hospital were transferred to WH and used to house long-stay patients. A koro epidemic occurred in Singapore
1968	The first batch of medical students was posted to WH. Construction work of the building for the Recreation Club was completed. Dr Chia Boon Hock became the first private psychiatrist in Singapore.
1969	The Singapore Association for Retarded Children (the former name of MINDS) started a residential home at Tampines Road. The Samaritans of Singapore started it’s 24-hour telephone service. General practitioner Dr Koh Eng Kheng was elected to be the first President of the Singapore Association for Mental Health.
70s	Description - back to top
1970	A part-time Child Guildance Clinic was started at WH.
1971	Dr Tsoi Wing Foo became medical superintendent. Rehabilitation schemes were introduced. A part-time Child Guildance Clinic was started at Singapore General Hospital.
1972	The Child Psychiatric Clinic became a full-time department. The first psychiatric day centre in Singapore was opened.
1973	Thirty units of Attendants’ Staff Quarters were transferred to WH and used as Rehabilitation Farm Quarters. Lithium was first used to treat manic depressive illness. Modecate, a long acting neuroleptic was used for the treatment of schizophrenia. The Mental Disorders and Treatment Act was amended to allow patients to be admitted to WH without any formality. Military psychiatry was pioneered by Dr Fong Yeng Hoi.
1974	The year saw the integration of the male and female nursing sections. The Changi Prison Psychiatric Hospital was opened with a 20-bed ward for the observation of forensic patients.
1975	The first batch of 35 patients set foot in View Road Hospital, a psychiatric facility with 250 beds for the rehabilitation of patients with chronic schizophrenia. Ward 21 of WH was converted into a new psychiatric Outpatient Department while Ward 23 became a medical ward. The Child Psychiatric Clinic at Outram Road General Hospital was relocated to Russels Road, Alexandra Park.
1976	The Year saw the integration of the male and female sections of the Occupational Therapy Department.
1977	A total of 30 annexes were added to 30 wards in WH. The 13 houses borrowed from Trafalgar Hospital to house long stay patients were returned.
1978	WH celebrated it’s 50th anniversary.
1979	Dr Tsoi Wing Foo was seconded from WH to the University of Singapore to head the Department of Psychological Medicine. The year saw the inauguration of the psychiatric nurse practitioners scheme to help with the increasing attendance at the outpatient clinics.
80s	Description - back to top
1980	The Singapore Psychiatric Association was founded and the Inaugural President was Dr Chee Kuan Tsee. Fifteen of the vacant huts at Trafalgar Hospital were renovated to provide accommodation for 200 patients of WH. The Child Psychiatric Clinic moved to the Institute of Health in Outram Road. Dr Teo Seng Hock was appointed Medical Director WH.
1982	WH starts to provide specialist training which leads to a Master of Medicine (Psychiatry) degree from the National University of Singapore.
1984	The proposal for a new psychiatric hospital was mooted by the Ministry of Health.
1985	The department of Psychological Medicine was opened in the National University Hospital.
1986	A self-contained Psychological Medicine Unit was inaugurated at ward 13 of Tan Tock Seng Hospital. Sunlove Home was born in a former chicken farm in Lim Chu Kang. At the Inaugural Meeting of the Chapter of Psychiatrists, Academy of Medicine, Dr Teo Seng hock was elected to be the chairman.
1987	The landmark event was the 1987 Survey of the General Health of the Singapore population carried out by the Singapore Association for Mental Health. The survey was published in 1989.
1988	A Community Psychiatric Nursing services was established. An evening clinic was started at WH.
1989	Tampines Home was relocated to Thomson Road. The domestic training ward was renamed the Casuarina Rehabilitation Unit. A pilot day hospital with 20 places was introduced.
90s	Description - back to top
1990	The Alzheimer’s Disease Association was formed. The first Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Clinic was started at Tampines Clinic. The Alcohol Dependency Clinic and Alcohol Treatment Program were started in May 1990 at Alexandra and Mandalay Day Centres, respectively.
1993	WH shifted from it’s Yio Chu Kang premises to the new buildings at Hougang, thus ushering in a new era in psychiatric care.

This book documents the development of psychiatry in Singapore since its humble beginnings in the British colonial period. It should be interest to health professionals, medical students, historians interested in the development of medicine and psychiatry and even members of the public with some basic understanding of psychiatry and psychology. Relatives and caregivers of psychiatric patients would also find the information in the book enlightening.

The book priced at $36 before GST, is available at all Kinokuniya bookstores and Singapore University Press Bookshop (located at National University of Singapore).