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“Get Over It! What Is This ‘Depression’ Thing Anyway?”: Kevin’s Story
By Kevin W. // Depression is pain—a devastating, yet invisible pain. And so, unless it’s experienced firsthand, it’s hard to comprehend. Consider this analogy: Your brain is to you what a processor is to a computer—both carry out commands to enable healthy functioning. Depression is a virus—a vicious, nasty virus. As with how a virus corrupts…
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Caregiving for Dementia as a Family: Katherine’s Story
By Katherine T. // At the time of writing this, my maternal grandmother Ah Ma was recently admitted to SGH due to severe dementia. Prior to that, we were hearing stories from my army of aunties and cousins on the daily challenges they faced taking care of and living with Ah Ma. The stories then…
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An Escape Room for Empathy: Have you met Jessica?
By Effendi K. // On 9 to 10 January 2018, a ground up social movement dedicated to heighten awareness of mental health issues among youths, CampusPSY (short for Peer Support for Youths) ran a series of escape room experiences titled, Jessica – Have you met her? Inviting participants to find Jessica through a series of puzzles,…
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The Truth About Eating Disorders: Cheryl’s Story
By Cheryl // Breaking Mirrors – You Are More Than What You See I’ve had an eating disorder for almost six years now and have come to terms with the fact that I’m still living with this illness. However, I now know that this disorder is not who I am; that it’s not even a part…
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Waves of Depression: Jacelynn’s Story
By Jacelynn // I’ve been receiving school counselling since I was in Primary 5. But it was only in October 2015 that I was officially diagnosed by a GP. I was having extreme suicidal thoughts. So extreme to the point that I would become nauseous. I’d run out of the house and kept on running…
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Depression is a Jerk: Mak’s Story
By Kean Loong // He is next to me, at the head of my bed the moment I wake up. He smiles, then kicks at my head, and jumps on my chest. He sneers, “So what’s lined up for today? Shall I tell you the ways I can interfere and make sure your life doesn’t…
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Minding My Mind: Emily’s Story
By Emily // I am Emily. “THAT Emily” as the haters would say. Even my closest friends and schoolmates whisper critically amongst themselves at the very sight of me. They saw me as different and hated the fact that I was considered “special” and favoured by teachers and school seniors. Being the only child of…
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Living with Undiagnosed Mental Illness: Amanda’s Story
By Amanda // I am fearful of disappointing my family. Unlike most people who have an official mental health diagnosis, I do not have one. But I do struggle with mental health issues. I have lived with an eating disorder and anxiety for almost four years. Today, I am here to share my story as…
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Chasing Joy: Judith’s Story
By Judith // It all started when I was 13 years old. The taunts, unkind words, and mean laughter sought to strip me of the little joy that I was holding on to. Every day, I had no one to spend my recess time with, which all started with a girl in my class rallying…
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Story: A Cautionary Tale
By Nicole K. // There were hardly any local, personal stories on mental illness and recovery when we first started. The few inspiring gems we found were largely in the form of print biography. Things are vastly different now with more cross-sectoral collaborations, accompanied by a groundswell of mental health initiatives, thanks to the steady…
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A Different Voice: Vanessa’s Story
By Vanessa // I would like people to become more aware of and accepting of mental illness. Living with mental illness isn’t easy. It is like having a monster that eats you from within. Except no one can see this monster, so no one believes you when you talk about it. I have been dealing…
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6 Things to Say in Place of ‘Positivity’ Clichés
By Kean Loong // When faced with someone who is depressed, what do you instinctively say to the sufferer? There’re many messages of positivity out there which are fallacies and can make a mental health sufferer feel worse. When interacting with someone who has mental health or mood disorders, speaking the truth is always more…
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You Remain: Andrea’s Story
By Andrea // I have been struggling with clinical depression, anxiety, stress and agoraphobia for two years now. I rarely leave home and find it difficult to interact with strangers and see no hope for myself in my future. This is my reality. I worked as an English tutor at education companies in Asia but…
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Journalling for Recovery: Xicius’ Story
By Xicius // I have struggled with recovery for many years. I made many attempts at recovery and one of them was through writing a diary. I failed miserably on multiple occasions but I realize that this is due to several reasons. The things I wrote about are vague; no concrete goals or intention. Unspecified…
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A Theory of Moods: Vikay’s Story
By Vikay // The issue I struggle with is in having too much mental energy and excitement followed by periods of deep silence. Medically this is diagnosed as Bipolar Disorder. In my childhood I was considered moody. But as I aged and started interacting socially, the peaks of excitement were combined with anger resulting in…
