Saturday, October 07, 2006

Inspiring Mothers with Hope

Did you know it's World Mental Health Day on 8th Oct?

All over the world, there is a call to create awareness and stamp out the stigma of mental illness. But what does it mean for me, personally?

Almost a year ago, I sat in the ACCIDENT & EMERGENCY department of IMH (Institute of Mental Health) with a friend.
It was not a case of violence, but her family was not able to cope with her mental state. They could not handle her irrational behaviour. And they were at a loss as to how to persuade her to go to the hospital "for a rest".

Her mum desperately needed help.
She was embarrassed to have to ask an outsider to get her daughter to hospital.

There at the A&E, I saw a young mother who was being admitted, too. She was singing the National Anthem with great gusto, while her worn-out husband was tending to their young son.

Suddenly, memories of an old aunt who had a history of schizophrenia came to my mind.
She was a single mum who had to bring up two kids. How it must have been traumatic for her and the children to have her going in and out of Woodbridge Hospital (now IMH) for years until she was declared 'burnt-out'!

As my thoughts churned, something stirred within me.

IMH ......Inspiring Mothers with Hope !!!

Mothers who have mental illness need to build their lives again with strength and support, courage and confidence, worth and wholeness.

So do mothers with kids who suffer from mental illness.
They need to have breakthroughs in their own lives so they can manage their kids and move on from their guilt and shame, despair and discouragement, lostness and aloneness.


There is a walkathon along Orchard Road on 8th Oct 2006 in conjunction with World Mental Health Day.....
but who will walk along life's road with these mothers every day ???







link | posted by Coach Jonathan Wong at 8:11 AM |


1 Comments:

Blogger Wai Mun commented at 2:08 AM~  

I like your article on mental illness. +) Found it inspiring.I do agree with you that we need to learn to be more accepting towards people with mental illness.

In fact, I find that the patients need to be more accepting towards themselves. They may feel inferior or have unrealistic expectations on themselves. =(

Having mental illness is just like having any other illness like diabetics, kidney failues, etc. The patients need to learn to change their life-styles and even expectations. They should RESPOND and not REACT to their illness so that they come out with a positive experience.

In the end, they will learn to cope with the illness and through the experience become more resilient!

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