Sadly…after hanging on on FB for the past 5 yrs. I notice the stigma towards people with mental health issues is getting worse and even more judgemental. And very often people judge them as pest that needed to be gotten rid off.
And in Singapore how people seems to label and associated someone as mentally unsound minded seems to be as lame as sharing different options or not comfortable with the habits/actions of that person.
I guess no amount of mental health destigmatization helps with Singaporeans mindset towards mental health issues.
Seems like the more our government just provide knowledge and awareness that allowed the so called normal people to label others they deem as wrong with a mental health issues.
Maybe our government should ban news and content to involves person with mental health issues. To prevent public shaming of the person and also to stop all this nonsense stigma.
Just take hoarders for example who very often people deem such people are mentally ill and requires medical intervention. But very often people who are hoarding has their own reason for it.
And with Singapore flats are getting smaller, it end up the in increase the likelihood of the person looking like a hoarder as after all, there is so much space available in their home especially when they are forced to downgrade from a 4 room flat to a 1 room flat.
I asked a social why only the poor is need as a hoarder but not the rich, where rich people can easily own 50 cars or 100 paintings. So…isn’t that consider as hoarding too? But still…instead they are being called collectors. But hey…what about poor people who collected things that their love ones just to used and keep them because they are no longer around? They are pretty much being judged as hoarders instead of collectors because the living in 1 room flat?
Maybe the society should really start to go into deep reflection mode.
I wanted to share a bit about the element of hoarding, as you’ve talked about it a bit more in your post! I hope this can shed a bit of educational content, but also empathise
There are hoarding behaviours, and when it meets requirements and are of significant clinical concern, it can be diagnosed as hoarding disorder. A key point is that the items likely provide some kind of emotional reaction for the person (i.e. I feel safe when I have many items, or I feel distress by the idea of throwing things away). Another important factor is whether the hoarded item causes impairment and functioning. This would also differentiate between a collector and someone with a hoarding disorder
I think for hoarding, it’s true that for this mental illness specifically, there’s very little recognition that these are people who have a mental illness or mental health concerns in the media. It could be due to the fact that it is an immensely visible mental illness in, as you mentioned, our small yet communal living spaces of HDB flats. News agencies/social media may report on these situations most of the time well before authorities have intervened in more depth, so there’s not always an official statement that can provide a more nuanced lens. A rich person can certainly develop a hoarding disorder, but it’s going to be a lot less obvious as they likely have space and live in more private dwellings perhaps. But the other aspect is, unfortunately, socioeconmic status is a big factor for hoarding disorders especially. Studies have shown amongst those who have a hoarding disorder, many come from lower socioeconomical backgrounds.
Media, mental health and empathy are very complicated and related things. I do hope that people become more empathetic, and media can play a greater role in sharing such psychoeducational information when reporting – making good use of their platform and voice!
which is why i always telling people who see hoarders as pest that if you give the hoarder 1 mil, you will see the hoarder cure its own “mental health” issues overnight
Not need to spend yrs seeking treatment from professional.
Pershaps one of the few mental health disorders out there can actually be cured
I hope you don’t mind me clarifying a little on this!
Even though people who have hoarding disorders come from less socioeconomically privileged backgrounds, giving them money to become richer is unfortunately unlikely to create lasting change. It may make it easier to hide, if say the money is used to move to somewhere more spacious and private. But the disorder means that they will still likely feel immense anxiety and distress to throw items, or to not keep items. So perhaps the one million dollars may make it seem like their condition is improved by making it easier to hide, but in reality their mental health issues are likely to persist.
It can be treated though – with psychological support most importantly. Therapy methods are able to support those with hoarding disorders by gaining exposure to throwing the items away or keeping only necessary things, and support them with the emotional reaction as they relearn these healthier behaviours.
At the end of the day everyone has mental health – rich or poor. It’s very similar to physical health in this aspect
People who come from underprivileged backgrounds may have less nutrition that make them at risk of falling sick. Giving them a lot of money will not reverse the harm done to the body. But it may help with improving quality of life and access to treatment.
Similar to mental health! People who come from underprivileged backgrounds may have experiences that put them at risk of falling mentally ill. Things like having parents who weren’t available or present due to work, or being bullied at school because of poverty. Giving them money won’t erase these experiences. But it may help with improving quality of life and access to treatment
