Oh dear Oh my where do I start?
Covid 19 has changed many things and impact the world and it’s people in more ways than one
And you probably felt the effects too
Although I’m hoping you are coping better than most, or at least have learn to cope better with time
And of course, every country in the world will have different coping mechanisms too
Where one country might be more open to sourcing for conventional or unconventional therapy, another country might just ridicule at therapy itself
That’s usually due to culture or even one’s personal beliefs
Now naturally I won’t be talking about other countries, I’m going to target closer to home
Singapore of course
The last few months came as a shocker as the number of Covid 19 cases have skyrocketed and gone past the roof
And naturally, this is creating a lot more negative impact yet again
It’s causing either fear, anxiety or both, with secondary effects
But wait a minute, how does this relate to World Mental Health Day 2021?
Although honestly, I think mental health is something that we have to take care of every day, kinda like our physical health
But anyway, the World Health Organization or WHO started the World Mental Health Day with the aim of creating more awareness of mental health issues and promoting more support for mental health care
And World Mental Health Day is stimulated on the 10 October every year with a different or specific theme or focus
For example, for World Mental Health Day in 2019, the focus was on suicide prevention and in 2020, it was about investing in mental health and to focus on taking care of ourselves
And for 2021, the focus is on making mental health care a reality
Now, what does it really mean?
According to WHO, they are encouraging people to share positive stories about how mental health has affected them, and how they grew or heal from it
This is in hopes to get more people to be more open minded about seeking help
And you know what, this is even more crucial than ever
Let’s face it, Singapore initially isn’t big on mental health care *shrug* and although times are changing, the support and growth for it doesn’t seem to catch up (in my opinion)
This is because I still hear from my clients that their parents don’t believe in mental health issues such as depression or anxiety, and the parents are commonly saying to them to just “man up”, “grow out of it”, “weak” and more
It’s sad you know đ
Yet the irony is that around the world (ok yea I bring the world in haha) social media like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter is everywhere
And there are many research articles about how social media has a negative impact on mental health increasing depression, anxiety, fear and more
Here’s an example
A guy might take photos with expensive cars and pretend or act like he owns them or rides them, which ironically create a imposter syndrome
And the people who views such photos might imagine what a lavish life he might be living, and question themselves whether they can achieve that, which can create anxiety about success or feelings of depression
That’s just one example
Here’s another article about how following the social media of celebrities can impact mental health and how you can protect yourself from negativity
So how can we use social media effectively to promote positive mental health?
One of the initiatives describe by WHO for World Mental Health Day 2021 for positive stories is actually a pretty good idea
Positive stories of change and healing through mental health issues
Although coming back to Singapore, can we do it?
I guess one of the issues that holds us back from truly focusing on positive mental health is the stigma of having mental health issues
And kinda why I decided to start this hypnosis practice to help the ones who are suffering in silence
There’s no record
Even when I ask some of my clients if they are ok to give a testimonial, I’m ok with them remaining anonymous
I can start with my own story of mental health
Long story short, my dad committed suicide and I was the last person to see him alive…
And unfortunately, the circumstances caused me to be blamed by some relatives for not recognizing that he was going to commit suicide when everyone was sleeping
Going through my own grief and now guilt, I fell into depression the first time
Now I don’t blame them for stating those things, I know it was their way of handling their own grief at the sudden passing
Also, what happened has already happened, so be it
And it was one of the things that I learn hypnotism to heal myself for
Although there’s a second story
The other thing I had to heal myself using hypnosis was a type of post traumatic stress disorder or PTSD for short
In this incident, my lung burst in my sleep and I had to deliver a presentation in a polytechnic (I was just a 20 year old student)
And later on I had to go to the hospital due to breathing difficulties and pain, before seeing the X ray that my right lung had collapsed to the size of a chicken egg
And then the doctor said I could die in a few days or just minutes
The PTSD came about due to my unconscious mind illogically linking the presentation in school to the shock and trauma that came about from hearing that I was going to die
And going through the mental, emotional, physical breakdown each and every time after a presentation in school cause me to fall into depression once again
You can read a better story in this interview I did with YP
In a way, because mental health wasn’t that acknowledged, or even aware of back in 2007, and probably due to the stigma surrounding it too
I had absolutely no idea what was happening to me
Seriously
I didn’t know I was going through depression the first time, it was only on hindsight, like years later that I realized it
I also didn’t know I had PTSD during the near death experience, I thought I had severe stage fright!
Which of course, caused me to have depression the second time
I was suffering in silence…
I didn’t know how to ask for help, I didn’t know who to ask for help…
Which is why years later, I learned the skills and knowledge of Neuro Linguistic Programming and eventually hypnosis
All in order to figure out and realize what was happening in my mind…
And to resolve those issues at its roots of course
That’s why I start this profession as a hypnotist
So I can help the people who are going through what I went through myself more than 10 years ago…
That’s why I want to help promote awareness of mental health issues and encourage people to share
I can understand if it’s daunting to share your own personal story
So how about sharing one of my client’s stories?
This client of mine had a fear of public speaking and resolve it through hypnosis
Or this testimonial from another client who suffered from bulimia and resolve it in 1 session of hypnosis
If you read up to here, what I am asking of you
If you can share one of my client’s stories or testimonials with those in need of help
Because perhaps that story can help your loved ones to realize that…
“Hey, I can be helped”
That’s all I ask of you
Especially as Covid is creating a lot more stress, fears and anxieties
Some of the old and mild issues we have in the past, seem to be bigger and scarier now
And we need all the help we can get
Thank you for reading and sharing
