[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/destinations\/singapore\/national-day-championing-mental-health-and-disability-rights\/#NewsArticle","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/destinations\/singapore\/national-day-championing-mental-health-and-disability-rights\/","headline":"National Day: Championing mental health and disability rights","name":"National Day: Championing mental health and disability rights","description":"Valerie Eng experienced her first psychotic episode at school in 2016, when she was just 14 years old.\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cI ran to the toilet because I didn’t want to lash out and hurt anyone else,\u201d she recalls. \u201cI wanted to direct it inwards… I started seeing faces on the walls, eyes on the ceilings, and started […]","datePublished":"2021-08-10","dateModified":"2022-04-16","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/author\/Maisie%20Leong\/#Person","name":"Maisie Leong","url":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/author\/Maisie%20Leong\/","identifier":227,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4f5c852853ba8ed19bedc5417be7db8166064cfcb8857f5ec40bb516fab94b2d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4f5c852853ba8ed19bedc5417be7db8166064cfcb8857f5ec40bb516fab94b2d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"TheHomeGround Asia","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/wp-content\/uploads\/photo_2021-07-22-222533.jpeg","url":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/wp-content\/uploads\/photo_2021-07-22-222533.jpeg","width":640,"height":640}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/wp-content\/uploads\/1628254783811_Valerie_Eng_wheelchair_tennis_1280x626.jpg","url":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/wp-content\/uploads\/1628254783811_Valerie_Eng_wheelchair_tennis_1280x626.jpg","height":626,"width":1280},"url":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/destinations\/singapore\/national-day-championing-mental-health-and-disability-rights\/","about":["Community","Health & Wellness","Local","Singapore"],"wordCount":1422,"articleBody":"Valerie Eng experienced her first psychotic episode at school in 2016, when she was just 14 years old.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cI ran to the toilet because I didn’t want to lash out and hurt anyone else,\u201d she recalls. \u201cI wanted to direct it inwards… I started seeing faces on the walls, eyes on the ceilings, and started feeling barbs in my skin. It was overwhelming. So I dissociated.\u201d She later discovered that she had vandalised the toilet during her dissociative episode.\u00a0Ms Eng remembers feeling \u201calienated\u201d from the school system, and conflicted at the subsequent mental health support she received.\u00a0\u201cI feel like [the school was] very scared of me because they didn’t know what to do. They didn’t want to hurt me, but at the same time, they didn’t want [me] to hurt other students,\u201d she explains.\u00a0Following the incident, she was suspended, but elected to leave school the next year, and transferred to a private school.\u00a0But her life took a turn after a fateful suicide attempt in 2018 that left her disabled.\u00a0\u201cThat attempt made things much worse for me because of the stigma and discrimination I faced, and also because of how my mental health really declined,\u201d Ms Eng says, adding that she was eventually diagnosed with borderline personality disorder (BPD) and schizoaffective disorder.Today, the 20-year-old mental health and disability advocate seeks to effect change through speaking up about her experiences.\u00a0Confronting societal stigmaMicroaggressions, which refers to both verbal and behavioural slights, are just some of the discriminatory behaviours that Ms Eng has faced.\u00a0\u201c[It has happened] when I’m out and in a wheelchair. And they’re trying to push my wheelchair or [say things] like, \u2018We’re so blessed to see you today, you make us feel so brave\u2019,\u201d she says.\u00a0Such behaviours have also perpetuated her feelings of being marginalised.\u00a0\u201cIt is mostly because of the way that people look at me because of my scars when I’m out, or once they find out my diagnosis [of BPD]. They have a lot of preconceived notions. Because of that, they treat me very differently, and [their] attitude towards me shifts,\u201d she says.\u00a0\u201cI feel that I am not just a citizen; I am also my illness… And because of that, I feel that my illness is very, very strongly tied to being Singaporean.\u201d\u00a0Other comments she has received include queries on whether she has attempted to practice activities such as yoga and meditation, from those who have spotted her scars. She feels that these behaviours can inadvertently glorify those in the disabled community: \u201cThere’s nothing glorious about my disability, such that you need to talk about it and make it\u00a0 an inspirational \u2018porn\u2019 kind of thing.\u201dBut she is thankful for the conversations that she has had online. Describing online communities as being \u201cmore saturated\u201d, as those who interact with her tend to have prior interest in mental health or disability, she explains that the people she converses with online tend to \u201calready know how people with disabilities or people with mental illnesses want to be treated\u201d.\u00a0Ultimately, Ms Eng wishes for the public to be more understanding towards those with disabilities and mental health conditions.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cPsychiatric patients are not demons, so please don’t banish us or hate us. [We, and] people with disabilities are not impeccable. Sometimes we fall, sometimes we have relapses, but despite that, please forgive us and lift us up,\u201d she says.\u00a0\u201cWe deserve what you guys deserve as well, [be it in terms of ] rights and access; we deserve the same. So please include us. And we are really trying \u2013 persons with disabilities, as well as mentally ill people. Please hold space and grow with us.\u201d\u00a0Valerie Eng, 20, in her sports wheelchair in March this year, which she purchased through crowdfunding efforts and the proceeds from a small business she initiated. (Photo courtesy of Valerie Eng)Effecting change for marginalised communitiesAffordable care is one key challenge that the mental health community faces, says Ms Eng, explaining that the private healthcare system is expensive.\u00a0She opines that inclusivity, better representation of the mental health and disabled communities, as well as education are also key to reducing societal stigma.\u00a0This is especially significant for those with neurodivergent conditions, such as dyslexia and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). \u201cWe need to work on including diverse identities in public discourse… disability… And also mental health issues like BPD and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD),\u201d she said.Accessibility is yet another vital need to be addressed \u2013 for physical spaces and healthcare alike.\u00a0\u201cNot all overhead bridges are wheelchair friendly,\u201d she says, adding that hills and slopes can also be difficult to navigate in a wheelchair.Having access to healthcare services such as occupational therapy is yet another challenge. While such services are offered by local hospitals, booking appointments can be difficult, due to a shortage of occupational therapists locally.\u00a0\u201cEven though they provide occupational therapy services, they are very fully packed. You don’t have any appointments available. So it’s not a continued support, it’s very irregular,\u201d Ms Eng explains.\u00a0\u00a0Ms Eng during a family outing earlier this year. (Photo courtesy of Valerie Eng)More resources can be made available to those in the mental health and disabled communities, states Ms Eng, asserting that infrastructural change is needed to better meet the needs of these communities.\u00a0\u00a0One such issue is the availability of specific wards for those with lesser-known mental health conditions such as BPD.\u00a0\u201cWe only have one mental health hospital, Institute of Mental Health (IMH)… We don’t have residential treatment centres for people [with lesser-known mental health conditions such as] BPD,\u201d she says, adding that there is also a lack of support groups for these conditions, while more resources are available for mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety.She also hopes for greater equality within the field of disability sports.\u00a0Having played able-bodied tennis since she was seven, Ms Eng aspires to compete in the Paralympics in the future. Drawn to the precision of the game, she explains that tennis acted as a form of catharsis for her: \u201cI always found that it was very redeeming in that it taught me how to control myself, while at the same time I could unleash my rage and my fury on the court.\u201dShe shares that disability sports such as swimming tend to receive more resources compared to sports such as wheelchair tennis, such as funding, access to gymnasiums, and physio(therapy), attributing this to the popularity and traction of such sports.\u00a0\u201c[There is a] focus on Paralympic athletes that are able to show the most results in a short period of time. Those who are well known get a lot of support, while other people who are just stepping out into the scene into less known sports like tennis are not supported,\u201d she says.Wheelchair tennis is one of Ms Eng\u2019s passions, as she aspires to compete in the Paralympics. (Photo courtesy of Valerie Eng)The significance of National Day\u00a0Pride and grief are what come to mind for Ms Eng at the thought of National Day. \u201cI suppose there’s pride but I mostly just grieve for those that our country has failed, in terms of abuse and suicide poverty, and the lack of resources. It’s also a reminder of how small a nation we are, and how similar our needs actually are,\u201d she says.\u00a0But despite all that she has faced, Ms Eng is hopeful for the future.\u00a0\u201cI have seen how people find comfort in the smallest things in Singapore, in communities or friends, and how we build on those,\u201d she muses. \u201cI’m very confident that if we continue to be brave enough to speak up for what we believe in, change will happen. I think the system will eventually have to bend to our needs and to our pleas.\u201d\u00a0She also takes pride in Singapore\u2019s rich cultural heritage.\u00a0\u201cWhen [friends overseas] ask me about the slang [and] dialect that I use, it means a lot to me because that’s where Singapore took me through… Being Singaporean, I can truly expand on my pride for my identity that is derived from my citizenship in different countries and now in Singapore,\u201d she says.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cWhat it means to me is that there is diversity. And there’s strength and differences that bind us together.\u201dJoin the conversations on TheHomeGround Asia’s Facebook and Instagram, and get the latest updates via Telegram."},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Destinations","item":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/destinations\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Singapore","item":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/destinations\/\/singapore\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"National Day: Championing mental health and disability rights","item":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/destinations\/singapore\/national-day-championing-mental-health-and-disability-rights\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]