For the past 25 yrs being a person with mental health issues, I have tried to seek help in every available groups available.
And for the past few yrs with the government pushing for mental health support and suicide intervention. We ended up with a new type of hypocrites in help/support sector.
This group of people feel good about “helping” people by conducting talks. But unknowing to most, most such org exist not because they wanted to help, but instead they are eyeing on the funding set out by the gov. Each head count the turns up in their talk allows them to claim money from the gov.
And yet…anyone with a traumatic life experience can easily slience them and they will ban the individual from their future talks. Deeming they are too much to handle
Just imagine a group that promotes suicide prevention can not even handle someone with past suicide attempts turning up in their talk and talk about their life experience.
And most of these groups tend to target caregivers by giving them tips that ignore the feelings of the care receiver. And i once suffered a panic attack after seeing of such group’s websites’ passive behaviour, as it directly gives me a chilling feel of how i was abuse in hospital when i was 16 by involuntary restraint just because I didn’t agree with the nurse. Its really the case of wanting to profit from government funding.
And as yrs goes by more and more such mental health support groups starts to pop up, and each is a case of don’t agree with the other, and their staff just hop from one group to another group.
And most of this groups are not registered with any government body. Which means people have no where to complain their bad ethics to. Smart tactics, but only need one person with mental health issues with the insight of how the healthcare and social service sector works to unfold such hypocritical groups.
In short everyone pls do a background check on the group you are seeking support from, avoid NGOs and NPOs that is not registered with any of the government bodies. Don’t let them exploit you for gov funding.
not just mental health, some talks n seminars i attend on subjects supposingly for segments of society sponsored by govt are usually just there for the money . their content is barebones n shutdown any questions or sensitive topic raised by attendees.
anyway just attend these with open eyes n absorb as much help as u can. make any positive lessons u can do/get worth out of it
such talks actually does more harm to the society than good. best to just boycott them.
And soon you will see how desperate they are for headcount.
I think support groups r more for people who already went thru therapy and r trying to recover. They do say that support groups r not a replacement for therapy. So far, the support groups that i went for has been very civilised, its like no one has visible mental illnesses except for the depressed ones.
I dont bother about mental health talks.
R u in therapy?
May i know what u did to get banned?
I mean, people work to earn money at the end of the day in an expensive country like Singapore, right? Cant be doing stuff for free and sacrificing ur weekends or weekday nights for free. I mean, some ppl do volunteer for real w good motives, i think u just have to continue ur search, i guess.
well…if they can get triggered by a person’s life experience and ban the person for sharing, Dont you find such behaviour being too immatured?
There is a difference between earning a living and exploiting the vulnerable for a living.
And also such mental health support groups is not register with gov bodies so if anything happens no one can investigate them.
If you say we should support such unethical business because everyone in Singapore needs to eat, well i guess i also want to start one. Go talk crap and claim money from the gov.
I guess the gov should better look into how to better support people with mental health issues directly.
ah i see, i get your point. any good support groups u recommend?
apparently none apart from here.
somehow even supportgowhere didnt work the way it should be, called a few of the VWOs up and the claim they dont provide the service listed in supportgowhere.
Hi @user1146 
From what I’ve read from your post, I empathise with your frustration with mental health support groups based on your bad past experiences with them.
Talking about mental health is emotionally taxing. It requires a lot of vulnerability, which is not easy, and sometimes uncomfortable. I affirm you for continually seeking help for your mental health, and hope you can continue to do so; after all, having a strong support network is crucial to overcoming one’s mental health challenges.
I do rather have a more optimistic view that it is not that mental health support groups are hypocritical; instead, because not every individual or volunteer are equipped to provide you with professional advice, and they fear that their actions to help can sometimes be inadequate and do more harm than good, hence they may tend to be more reserved in the advice they provide and be misunderstood as unwilling to help.
Of course, even if so, alternatives can be provided, such as referring individuals to other channels of help deemed more suitable and adequate to offer assistance. I myself am not a professional, so I would recommend those in mental distress to see a psychologist, or partner with a social worker, who are more qualified to give advice and help.
Nevertheless, I do have confidence in the mental health support groups’ landscape in Singapore, and hope you can share some of my faith too. Channels such as this forum let’s talk and other non-profit organisations, do actively try their best to help those in need. While there may be some black sheep among the rest, please know that there will be mental health support groups out there that are willing to listen to your problems and offer you their assistance and support. So please don’t lose faith, and do seek help whenever you’re in distress. Hope my post is helpful to you and everyone that comes across it! 