If your sibling has a high need, does that automatically make you a Glass Child? No, it does not. If your sibling develops an illness during your adulthood, does that make you a Glass Child. No, it does not. If your parent has an illness or issues such as addiction that you had to grow […]
I Met My Younger Self for Coffee.
This is inspired by a recent TikTok trend. Honestly, I was delaying jumping on the TT bandwagon but now that I am working on getting my book published, and have learned that the platform is apparently beneficial to authors (let’s see about my experience), I finally joined last week. I’m @lifeofyasmeenhc, same as on IG. […]
The Glass Child—Ah, I See, That’s Me.
Who is a Glass Child? I’ve written about being the Invisible Child, the Well Sibling, growing up in the shadow of my brother’s schizophrenia but I had never heard of the term “the glass child” before. Until 2023 when I started writing my memoir and searched online for stories about being the well sibling (also […]
Siblings of High Needs Children: Update on the Book.
I’ve done it. My book about growing up as the well sibling of a high needs child is completed. Well, not really. It’s in the hands of beta readers and even as I await their feedback, I’ve already got ideas on how to improve sections of the book. So, I’ll have a few more rounds […]
Emotional Neglect – And the role your parents played.
Continuing from my last post on childhood Emotional Neglect, is this article on how it can happen in the 1st place. I first heard about the idea of Emotional Neglect during therapy last year, and have since heard it mentioned in various psychology publications. The prevalence of Emotional Neglect among Singaporeans was also discovered in […]
No More Burying Feelings – Siblings of the Mentally Ill child.
After over 35 years of being a schizophrenic’s sister, I am only now realising what it means to be a schizophrenic’s sister. The full impact of this wasn’t even something I discovered by way of therapy. It hit me like a lightning all by myself, one fine day. Yes, my therapist knew I was the […]
Survivor Guilt – Siblings of the Special Needs / Mentally Ill child
I could never understand why I would often say I feel “guilty” when talking about my family situation. Well-meaning and practical people would respond by saying “you have done nothing wrong, you shouldn’t feel guilty.” Which I consciously agree with. And yet, the feeling creeps in, now and then. In my mind, there is an […]
The Invisible Child – Siblings of the Special Needs / Mentally Ill child
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 […]