When there is a special needs or mentally-ill child in the family, the impact on the well sibling is often not seen or understood. It is brushed aside with the focus being centred on the affected child and its parents / caregivers instead. “As a child I tried desperately not to have a problem because […]
When being selfish is good.
Think of yourself first. That’s the message I am getting from my therapy sessions. And as the paranoid giraffe in my head reminds me to tell you not to misunderstand my statement, I feel compelled to explain myself first before I get accused of being… selfish. (And in doing so, undermining the point of my […]
How Dare You Call Me Non-Essential?!
Let’s talk about video calls, therapy and… NON-ESSENTIAL services. But first, let me just say that I guess it took a pandemic for me to discover just how much I enjoy connecting with friends via video calls. I wrote previously about how I like the isolation, and I had many telling me that they too […]
Happy birthday to me…
Another year older today. I’m in my head so much on a regular basis, I don’t feel any compulsion to set aside time to ponder and wax lyrical about another year older, what I have learned, what I must do moving forward, what my greater purpose in life is, blah blah. I also haven’t felt […]
Depressed or just moody?
The other day, I was feeling out of sorts. Nothing major, just been a week of nothing much progressing on the work front. And for someone who still (mis)places her identity on her accomplishments, believe me, it can put a cloud over your head when you feel like you haven’t achieved anything for that day […]
Out of nowhere, you’re triggered and you crash…
It happens, doesn’t it? For some of us, something ridiculously minor can shift our moods south. Like, maybe, waiting for a response on a not necessarily important email. Because when enough of lack of responses to unimportant emails start adding up, you start to wonder if you’re being ignored / the person hates you / […]
5 Practical tips to get you out of the funk
This is really more for when you feel a little meh or if you’re just going about your day and then something triggers you. It’s not the solution for full-blown depression or anything major. We all get in a funk sometimes, and these are some stuff I have stashed in my pocket that help me […]
It’s a SAD, sad situation.
To all my friends who are bemoaning the impending Chinese New Year “festivities”, here’s my piece to commiserate with you. It’s not specific to CNY though, it’s a delayed article about the whole SAD situation. (Actually, it’s about why some of us don’t always relish festive seasons and family gatherings, but we’ll get to that […]
Why you should do less this year
We’re always looking to do more, aren’t we? With each new year, new resolutions and new ambitions are visualised. But what if we streamlined and decluttered those goals? I don’t know about you, but I have a nasty habit of being distracted by the new and shiny. Not physical stuff, but mental stuff. Like wanting […]
Lucky to be brave?
I received so many good wishes from close and not-so-close friends when I launched Not A Pretty Picture last weekend. There were two types of responses, really: People started sharing their experiences with mental health matters, whether their own or of someone they know. People complimented me on being brave and having the balls to […]