JUNE-SEPTEMBER 2018 JUNE-SEPTEMBER 2018 A MAGAZINE ON MENTAL HEALTH WEATHERING THE Storm WHY RESILIENCE MATTERS, AND WHAT YOU CAN DO TO CULTIVATE IT MYTHS BUSTED! SETTING THE FACTS STRAIGHT ON PSYCHIATRIC BIPOLAR MEDICATION DISORDER: NAVIGATING THE UPS AND DOWNS >> EXPRESSIONS: HARESH SHARMA’S OFF CENTRE AT 25 — KEEPING THE DIALOGUE ON MENTAL HEALTH OPEN 12 FamilyIndividual Counselling Matters for Family Members 22 Ask the experts Clinicians answer your questions Are you living with someone who has addiction issues? For every person who has an addiction issue, at least four others close to him or her are impacted. It is challenging to care for someone with addiction problems. Families often feel stressed and helpless. Caregivers have their own needs and may suffer from physical and emotional problems. They require support too, especially when their loved ones with addiction issues are not ready to seek treatment. CON You do not have to feel alone. Our team of dedicated specialists is here to listen and support you in managing your situation better. TENTS FEATURES REGULARS JUNE - SEPTEMBER 2018 There is helphelp andand hope.hope. 8 FOCUS 3 MY SAY Why resilience is a vital Para-athlete Wong Zhi Wei Talk to us today. Call 6-RECOVER (6-7326837) for assistance.assistance. quality to have, and how to on how having the right nurture it within ourselves. attitude has helped him 18 to succeed. 14 What we ought to know about bipolar disorder and 4 LIVE WELL how it can be managed. What’s new in mental health research, and 12 EXPRESSIONS tips on maintaining Playwright Haresh Sharma your mental well-being. looks back on his ground- breaking work on mental 22 ASK THE EXPERTS illness, Off Centre. IMH clinicians answer your questions. 20 INSIGHT Separating the 23 IMH SCENE myths from facts A round-up of news about psychiatric and events centred on medication. mental healthcare. PROFILES LAST PAGE 17 I SERVE 24 BEAUTIFUL MIND 04 A GP talks about his While being happy can make experiences in dealing with you smile, smiling can make mental health issues in a you happy too! community setting. 18 A LIFE IN MY DAY 08 “IT IS DIFFICULT TO How journaling and PREDICT WHO IS family support helped a RESILIENT AND WHO IS woman with schizophrenia NOT UNTIL THEY ARE regain control of her life. TESTED BY CHALLENGING www.nams.sgams.sg CIRCUMSTANCES.” Associate Professor Daniel Fung, Chairman of IMH’s Medical Board and a child psychiatrist. JUNE-SEPTEMBER I 1 CHAT ad for IMHAGINE FA.indd 3 6/8/18 11:54 AM EDITORIALnote interview I MY SAY wimming started In class, I use a magnifying really important WHERE THERE’S as a hobby. I’ve camera so I can see to take charge of loved being in what’s written on the the mind in intense the water since whiteboard better. moments such I was four, and While some peers as these. It’s A resilient person I’ve always had can be hard on me also crucial to is someone who a will... an affinity for with their discouraging tune out other it. It de-stresses remarks, I also have distractions such demonstrates an t some point in our lives, most of us would Sand calms me. I started competitive many good friends who as your competitors. swimming when I was 13. Making it acceptance of the have had to deal with setbacks. These can are supportive. Navigating I find that if I stay to the winner’s podium at the 2017 extremely focused take various forms — injury, financial loss, the school blind in one eye is more reality of his situation ASIAN Youth Para Games in Dubai challenging, but it has made me — my mind at ease and A death of a loved one. Yet there is a great deal — I clinched three gold medals (see stronger. I am all the more motivated uncluttered — I am able to and that some things of variation in how individuals ultimately deal box), two silvers and a bronze — was to not rely on others for help in perform better. have changed beyond with adversity. Some buckle under the strain while others extremely satisfying. All the time and spite of my disability; it has made My main aim is to further improve his control. He shows ‘bounce back’ and even thrive in the face of it. A key factor effort spent in training before and me independent. my timing at the 2018 ASIAN Para a willingness to keep a at work here is resilience — a combination of thoughts, after school, eight times a week, The stress of competition can Games held in Jakarta this October. behaviours and actions that help individuals overcome felt worth the while. at times get to me, To win medals would be a bonus. balanced and hopeful hardships. And while it may seem that some people are Winning has made me Work hard and as it would most Ultimately, I hope to qualify for the perspective and the ‘naturally’ more resilient, it is in fact something that can be feel more confident of athletes — para 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo. ability to problem- learned and developed. Our latest cover story (page 8) looks what I am capable of focus on your or not. To manage That would be a dream come true. at this vital quality, and strategies each of us can adopt to in spite of my dream. Some this, I listen to pop To others aspiring to pursue their solve and improvise nurture it within ourselves. partial blindness. music pre-race. goals, here’s a piece of advice that sacrifices will solutions. He is This theme of resilience is echoed in our profiles this I’ve always attended I also visualise the I subscribe to: Work hard and focus also resourceful in issue — from visually-impaired para-swimmer Wong Zhi Wei a regular school. I’m have to be made race right down to on your dream. Some sacrifices will (page 3), who has pushed through obstacles to achieve his currently a Secondary along the way, the technicalities have to be made along the way, but tapping on his social sporting goals, to Sumaiyah Mohamed (page 18), who has 4 student at Catholic such as my strokes don’t ever give up. Push through no High School, where but don’t ever and breaths. It’s matter how big the obstacle in front support network.” not allowed her schizophrenia diagnosis from impeding her dreams of earning a university degree, getting married and I am on the Integrated give up. of you may seem.” MS CHERMAIN WONG, raising a family. Programme (IP) track. This means that I am Senior Clinical Psychologist and Deputy Also in this issue, we look at mental healthcare services Wong Zhi Wei was born blind in his right eye and has Head of IMH’s Mood Disorders Unit forgoing sitting for O-levels to available in the community. We put the spotlight on General 6/60 vision in his left. At the 2017 ASIAN Youth Para dovetail into the A-level curriculum. Games, Zhi Wei bagged gold in the Men’s 100m Freestyle Practitioners (GPs), who are often our first point of contact This gives me more time to participate S11-13, Men’s 400m Freestyle S11-13 and the Men’s when we are unwell. But not many of us are aware that in a broad-based curriculum that goes 100m Butterfly S11-13 categories. Para-swimming events GPs can help with our mental health needs too. We speak beyond just academic content while are classified according to disability levels. The S11, S12 to a family physician (page 17) who has partnered IMH I train for upcoming competitions. and S13 categories are for athletes with visual impairment, to provide mental healthcare in a convenient setting of a with S11 being the most severe. neighbourhood clinic. Ultimately, what we need to remember is that there’s no need to suffer in silence. Speak up, reach out and get help — the earlier you do, the smoother your road to recovery Visually-impaired para- will be! STAYING swimmer Wong Zhi Wei, Happy reading. 16, on pushing through to IN FOCUS overcome challenges, his the editorial team disability, as well as his nerves before and during a race. WONG ZHI WEI INTERVIEW FAIROZA MANSOR // PHOTO COURTESY A publication by Every care has been taken in the OF SINGAPORE DISABILITY SPORTS COUNCIL Editorial Team Singapore production of this magazine, but IMH the visually-impaired Lalitha Naidu publisher, and its employees assume no para swimmer Ting Mei See responsibility for any errors, inaccuracies or omission arising thereof. Opinions JUNE-SEPTEMBER 2018 JUNE-SEPTEMBER 2018 expressed by contributors are not Contributors necessarily those of IMH or the editorial A MAGAZINE ON MENTAL HEALTH Ronald Rajan, Dennis Yin, consultant, Mediacorp. The information Fairoza Mansor, Wanda Editorial consultant Mediacorp produced is for reference and educational : purposes only. As each person’s medical Tan, Kelvin Chia, Wilson condition is unique, you should not rely WEATHERING Pang, Jimmy Yap, on the information contained in this THE Storm magazine as a substitute for personal WHY RESILIENCE MATTERS, Koh Yuen Lin AND WHAT YOU CAN DO TO CULTIVATE IT Copyright © is held by the publishers. All rights medical attention, diagnosis or hands-on MYTHS BUSTED! treatment. If you are concerned about any SETTING THE FACTS STRAIGHT reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without ON PSYCHIATRIC BIPOLAR MEDICATION DISORDER: Circulation Coordinator NAVIGATING health matter, please consult your family THE UPS AND permission is prohibited. Printed in Singapore by KHL DOWNS physician or healthcare professional.