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Beware the myth of the creative ‘mad-genius’: More to art than insanity
By Kelly Ng // From how German composer Robert Schumann supposedly achieved superhuman productivity during his manic periods, to what’s been dubbed the “Sylvia Plath effect” – which tries to establish a link between creatives and mental illness based on the life and death of the depressed poem – the theory that creative people are…
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Dancing to the Beat of Depression and Anxiety: Q. Anuradha’s Story
By Q. Anuradha // I’m a dancer. Because my body is looking for cues to guide its movement, I pay more attention to the underlying beat in a piece of music than the average person. Music with a steady beat is easier to move to, the patterns easier to anticipate. But what happens when you…
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Shaping the Landscape of Singapore’s Mental Health Discourse
By Chia Xun An // In a highly competitive society such as Singapore, it is no surprise that the complexities, desires, and pressures of our 724-square kilometre metropolis can increase the risk of poor mental health. Reports showed an increase in stress and burnout, with $3.1 billion being spent on stress-related illnesses annually, including mental…
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Pandemic Parenting with Peppa Pig: Charmaine’s Story
By Charmaine Toh // Today was a good day. I maintained my most controlled IG-perfect mommy stance when my freshly-minted four-year-old, C, threw her daily tantrum. Typically, this is a colourful display of short chubby legs scissoring furiously in the air, arms flailing, and her little pre-schooler voice whining, “mooommyyyy but whhhyyyy?”. I’d firmly said…
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Add Enchantment to Your Everyday Homebound Life: Eliza’s Story
By Eliza Thomas // Many of us are dealing with the effects of social isolation and distancing during this COVID-19 crisis. Some of us have had it harder and are slipping into depressive states, especially when things are compounded with family and workplace stresses or, worse, unemployment and cash flow fears. What if we took…
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Meaningful Time Management During COVID-19: Paula’s Story
By Paula // The way we manage our time can help or hinder our recovery. Without intentional time management, we might end up lazing around and deteriorating in our mental state, or we could be productive and use our time meaningfully; supporting our recovery. This is even more crucial during this time of COVID-19 when…
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My Guilt: Sumaiyah’s Story
By Sumaiyah // My guilt is pretty delusional. It thinks I am lonely and needs friendship. It thinks it should occupy a big space in my heart and life. It also thinks I have a lot of free time and that I enjoy mentally going through the things I am doing, or not doing. Again,…
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Humanity’s Time To Shine
The COVID-19 circuit breaker may have brought society to a standstill, but perhaps now is humanity’s time to shine.
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Taking Care of Our Mental Wellbeing during the Covid-19 Pandemic
“Instead of judging yourself and beating yourself up for not having a productive Work-From-Home day, perhaps you can gently tell yourself that you are still adjusting to the new work arrangement, and speak words of encouragement to yourself, like how you would do to a friend.”
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Living With Myself: Gerlind’s Story
Who would choose to go through such painful ups and downs? The medications that help us function day to day do not come cheap, either. When society pushes us away, where are we to go? We are just like you: we need friends, families, support groups, medication, and jobs…It’s now even trickier with the current…
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Holding On: Nadera’s Story
“Especially now, when there might not be anyone around physically to affirm you, you have to pat yourself on the back for every step you take in the positive direction and ignore the demons that tell you that what you are doing is not enough.”
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Coping With COVID-19 When You Have A Mental Health Condition
As persons with mental health conditions, we are familiar with the battles in our minds. There aren’t any easy solutions, but we are much stronger than we realise. We have already overcome so much in our lives, and likewise, we shall also get through this together (but in a responsible socially-distanced way), one day at…
