MISCONCEPTIONS PERSIST
Mental health practitioners told CNA that sympathy is key to getting close to situations such as the virus-like incident.
Many people with mental medical issues “look like an common person on the street, just like you and me”, stated Mr Benjamin Tay, head of the case management unit at IMH.
“In some cases, depending on the nature of the illness, they may appear withdrawn, stressed, or sometimes, disoriented. They don’t most of behave in the same way but like any of us, may react negatively to bad experiences plus provocations. ”
As such, when a family member displays signs of a mental illness, stigma remains the main challenge the family faces within seeking help, mentioned Mr Tay.
“(There can be also) difficulty recognizing the illness or accepting the diagnosis. Another challenge they may encounter is when themselves are not compliant in order to treatment, which can take those form of medication or psychotherapy or each. ”
Psychological health literacy will be thus an important factor within facilitating “help-seeking behaviour”, noted IMH inside a media release upon Thursday (Jul 14) to launch the second national psychological health literacy study.
The very first such study executed in Singapore within 2014 found that will recognition of 5 mental health conditions – dementia, alcohol abuse, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder plus schizophrenia – ranged from 12 to sixty six per cent, with schizophrenia being the most poorly recognised.
To increase mental wellness literacy, Sabrina Ooi, co-founder of Calm Collective Asia, the non-profit that is designed to normalise discussions about mental wellness in Asia, said “it’s important to speak openly about psychological health with attention and compassion”.
“We’re usually quick to judge or go on the offence or defence whenever someone’s behaviour or even thought process seems abnormal to us, ” she added.
A lack of psychological health literacy also leads to misconceptions about people with mental sickness, noted Dr Annabelle Chow, clinical psychiatrist at Annabelle Psychology.
“A common perception is that (these people) are violent and intense to others close to them. This is a false impression. Most individuals with mental illnesses are not aggressive unless provoked, ” she said.
With schizophrenia, Dr Chow remarked that the condition is “widely stigmatised” and “associated with being chaotic and dangerous to others”.
“However, most people with schizophrenia are not chaotic and do not present any danger to other people. Sufferers often encounter hallucinations and delusions and might seem complicated to outsiders whenever they respond to the sounds that they hear within their head, ” she added.
“Coupled with disorganised thinking and getting unable to coherently express themselves during an show, people might become fearful of individuals with schizophrenia. ”
HELP AVAILABLE TO CAREGIVERS
Mental health professionals also acknowledged that caregivers and members of the family bear the bulk of the stress.
“Caregivers often experience low support due to the stigma plus loneliness that accompanies caregiving. They may feel isolated and view from those around them, with few to turn to for support. Caregiving may also give rise to emotional complications experienced by the households, ” said Dr Chow.
She highlighted many free support groups, such as Caregiver Alliance, Touch and Club Heal.
“Finding a support group can provide caregivers with extra resources that can be employed in their caregiving or provide them with social support from all other caregivers who are dealing with similar experiences. Searching for support in a group setting also allows caregivers to provide exclusive insights to the issues that caregivers face, ” she additional.
“In the event a caregiver feels overwhelmed by their situation and requires individual support, they could also seek guidance services or gain access to resources shared in just a support group. ”
Over at IMH, a “multidisciplinary team” provides care towards the patients, said Mister Tay.
They engage with caregivers or families to understand patients’ needs better and “to recognize any potential problems they might experience along the way”.
“To aid their recovery, case supervisors will discuss with family members and link all of them up with a community companion, such as a family services centre or a social service agency, close to their home for continuous support (which can include counselling and financial support) in the community, ” said Mr Tay.