Raymond's letter to the press: Let's donate to the mentally ill

My letter to MediaCorp's TODAY Newspaper was published on Thursday 25th July 2013.

I applaud the generosity of the 11 Malay Members of Parliament from the People’s Action Party who recently donated $15,000 in total to non-profit organisation Club Heal, which was formed last year to help people with mental illness regain confidence and reintegrate into society.

Minister-in-Charge of Muslim Affairs Yaacob Ibrahim mentioned that although the donation was not large, it signals their strong support towards the making of a more inclusive society.

Club Heal has strong political support; its patrons are Speaker of Parliament Halimah Yacob and another MP, Mr Zaqy Mohamed.

I hope that the generosity and compassion of these MPs will motivate other MPs to contribute to everyone in the psychiatric community here, given that mental illness affects all races.

We have more than 80 elected MPs; if all of them contribute $1,000 at the end of the year, more than $80,000 could be raised for psychiatric patients and their caregivers of all races. If the Government matches dollar for dollar, the fund for this marginalised group would top $160,000.

The next step would be to raise funds for this group on national television. Caregivers and patients who are coping well could move the audience with their true stories. And I have every confidence that Singaporeans would step forward readily and give generously.

Raymond Anthony Fernando
http://www.todayonline.com/voices/lets-donate-mentally-ill

Set up a task force to tackle depression and suicides : Raymond writes to The Straits Times

My letter on the above suject is published in The Straits Times today, Wednesday 24^th July 2013.

The World Health Organisation has predicted that by 2020, depression will be the second-leading cause of disability throughout the world, trailing only ischaemic heart disease.

Experts believe that hopelessness is a strong predictor of suicide. People who are suicidal may not ask for help, for fear of losing face.  They often choose this route because they want to end their suffering, which can be unbearable for most of them.

People who are suicidal suffer from depression and are in dire need of help.  Contributing factors include financial problems, work and exam stress, the high cost of living, relationship problems and heavy caregiving responsibilities.

But even though depression is the easiest of all mental illnesses to treat, more than half of sufferers do not seek treatment because of the social stigma attached to mental illness.

Sometimes all a suicidal person needs is a shoulder to cry on and a listening ear, and every one of us can play a part in supporting those who are pushed into a dark corner. Giving a suicidal person the opportunity to express his feelings can provide relief from loneliness and pent-up negative feelings, and may prevent a suicide attempt.

Everyone needs to play a part in bringing down our suicide rate, which has shot up by 30 percent (“Suicide cases rise nearly 30% to hit 20-year high”; July 13).

Religious groups, employers, schools, uniformed groups, MPs and grassroots leaders, along with those in the mental health-care industry, must work in tandem with the Government to help lower our suicide rate.

To this end, it is timely to set up a task force that will address these pressing issues.

Raymond Anthony Fernando

Form a task force to bring the stress and suicide rates down - By Raymond Anthony Fernando

I refer to Saturday’s report in MediaCorp’s TODAY newspaper, “More young people committed suicide last year.”

Given the stressful lifestyles which many of us are faced with in our daily lives, I am not at all surprised that the suicide rates have gone up.   

The World Health Organization had predicted that by 2020, depression will be the second leading cause of disability throughout the world, trailing only ischemic heart disease.  I highlighted this is a press letter in 2004, but how many people took me seriously.

These days practically everybody is in a mad rush as the pace of life gets faster and faster.  Just take the MRT in the morning and you’ll find evidence of this. 

 

Experts believe that hopelessness is a strong predictor of suicide.  People who are suicidal may not ask for help for fear of losing face.  They often choose this route because they want to end their sufferings, which to most of them, can be unbearable. 

 

People who are suicidal suffer from depression and are in dire need of help.  But even though depression is the easiest of all mental illnesses to treat more than 50% of them do not seek treatment due to the social stigma that is attached to mental illness. 

Loneliness and a feeling of being uncared makes the stressed out suicidal person give up on life. I was in that predicament in 1995 when I survived a suicide attempt over heavy caregiving responsibilities and work stress, so I relate very well to such incidents.  

 

Sometimes all the suicidal person needs is a shoulder to cry on, a listening ear and every one of us can play a part in supporting those that are pushed into a dark corner. Giving a suicidal person the opportunity to express his or her feelings can provide relief from loneliness and pent-up negative feelings, and may prevent a suicide attempt. 

 

Factors that contribute to stress include: office politics, pollution, overcrowding, excessive noise, financial problems, work and exam stress, high cost of living, relationship problems, and heavy caregiving responsibilities.

 

Several readers have written to the newspapers highlighting noise pollution that is causing disruption to their lives and yet this problem still persists. How can anyone who slogs day and night to bring home the bacon get any peace of mind under such circumstances? When we don’t have peace, chances are we’ll be in pieces because we’ll be distracted by our worries, our anxieties and our fears. 

 

What is also clearing lacking here is a strong supporting system that helps patients suffering from chronic illnesses and their caregivers cope with a hectic lifestyle such as ours. 

 

To address the stress and suicides that are coming on-stream, it is timely that the Government sets up a task force to address these pressing issues. While it is necessary to look at economic gains, we should also focus on peoples' emotional gains. 

 

RAYMOND ANTHONY FERNANDO

 

 

Raymond 's letter to The Straits Times (ST): Strengthen support system for caregivers

Last Saturday’s report (“Suicide cases rise nearly 30% to hit 20-year high”) comes as no surprise to me, given the highly stressful environment we live in.

Suicide is often a desperate attempt to escape from suffering.  There are many people in Singapore who are struggling with financial problems, relationship issues, mental health problems and poor health.

If you are the sole caregiver to a loved one suffering from a chronic illness and have no support, you are at a very high risk of wanting to give up on life because the task can be overwhelming.

I was in that situation in 1995 when I was struggling to strike a balance between my caregiving responsibilities to my wife, who suffers from a mental illness, and my stressful job, which saw me put in up to 12 to 18 hours a day at certain periods.

The support system for caregivers here is very weak.

After my wife underwent knee surgery last month, she suffered a relapse of her mental illness and I had to bear the pain alone for more than six weeks.

My attempts to secure much-needed support from government agencies and voluntary welfare organisations failed.

In desperation, I wrote an appeal letter to my MP, pleading with him to get us the help we so badly needed.

He was very kind and wrote to several agencies, including a community development council, the Singapore Association for Mental Health and a family service centre, which was the only one that offered help.

If we aspire to build a world-class mental health-care system, then surely we must have an equally world-class caregiver support system in place.

Raymond Anthony Fernando

 

Row between WP & PAP: Raymond Writes to the press: Letter to The New Paper: Many issues need more attention

My letter on the above matter is published in The New Paper today, page 19, Monday 15^th July 2013.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Environment and Water Resources Minister Vivian Balakrishan have called on the Workers’ Party (WP) Chief Low Low Thia Khiang to clear any doubts on his fellow MPs’ integrity. 

I fully agree with PM Lee’s call that those who are elected to Parliament must display integrity and honesty so that they can gain the trust of their constituents.

But I hope this row between the ruling party and the WP does not lead to politics of hate or deter people from entering politics.   The opposition and the ruling party must work hand in hand to improve the lives of our citizens, many of whom are struggling to survive in our stressful environment.  

There are many bread and butter issues which need more attention. We have road rage and accidents taking place every now and then, the cost of living and medical expenses are skyrocketing, and suicides have gone up by 30 per cent.

I have had dealings with several MPs - both from the opposition and the Peoples Action Party.  And while some of them have been helpful, other clearly lack empathy and come across as arrogant.

MPs must stay in touch with the citizens who elected them or they will lose support. And ministers mus go beyond emphaty And help to bring support measures to those who are struggling to cope.

 

RAYMOND ANTHONY FERNANDO

 

Cover letter to PM Lee & his Ministers/MPs.

Dear PM Lee , Ministers and MPs,

Do check out this letter, but now allow me to share something that needs the Govt’s attention and I hope that steps will be taken to provide caregivers the support that we so badly needed.  This, in fact was promised by Education Minister Heng Swee Keat when I attended the Singapore Conversation where he invited me to share my experience as a caregiver to my wife.  I have yet to see caregiver support being given to us when we are prepared to walk the long & arduous journey- despite facing huge setbacks in our lonely & isolated lives.
 

After my wife’s knee surgery in June this year, an unfortunate incident took place in the Rehab Hospital at The Ang Mo Kio-Thye Hua Kwan Hospital. While transferring my wife from the bed to a shower chair one night at around 12.30pm, the nurse dropped my wife and as a result of which, my wife suffered a relapse of her mental illness- schizophrenia. She was frightened!  I had to rush down to the hospital at 1.30am in the morning. It has been a nightmare for me for the past 6 weeks as I  grieve all alone. It is only my wife’s psychiatrist at IMH who is helping my wife to stabilize.
 

Despite the fact that I alerted the Govt. to be mindful of my wife’s fragile mind, this thing happened. Add insult to injury , hardly anyone stepped forward to help .  This matter was brought to the attention of many Govt. agencies including the NCSS, SAMH and a few others, Ministers and MPs, but hardly anyone cared.  How can you call this a gracious, inclusive and caring society?
 

Minister Balakrishnan is one office holder who shows a lot of empathy and care. I wrote to several ministers , but he was the only minister who wrote to me and gave me encouragement.  I respect him for that. But ministers , MPs and civil servants  must go beyond empathy and help to bring support measures to those who are struggling to cope.

 

 

My MP, Mr Seng Han Thong has tried his level best to help, appealing to my CDC, SAMH and a few other agencies. So too NMP Lawrence Lien who does empathize with us.  Besides the Family Services Centre, the CDC and SAMH have still not given us the support we so badly need.  Then what is the purpose of these organizations functioning.

 

Sincerely,

Raymond Anthony Fernando