I too had that experience before.Sad to note that they are often neglected and had been shun by many.They also do not enjoy much priviledge .Many people not only avoid them,they also make fun of them without knowing their condition.Reminded me of a case where someone took a picture of a man clad only in red underwear,put his back photograph that he captured and put it in STXXX..Some innocent readers even even comment “ang ang kakilarng”.

Its a good reminder to those people to show more compassion to these people .

The cold-faced society of ours has much to do with the octracism. The social stigma as you said, attached to it, is another heart-shattering reality.

A country like Singapore, with a high cost of living, can be even more stressful, to the sufferers and the care-givers given that minimum support is available. Our government may not be going much in this area to alleviate their lives.

Public awareness of mental illness and schizophrenia is least understood. And superstition also plays a part in the illiterates, to view this illness as a possession by some sort of evil.

Greater empathy and compassion must be shown and social acceptance is the first step to integrate these sufferers back into society. It has to begin with employers lifting the barrier, to accept employment for them.

In the early years of my childhood, we were brought up by grandmother’s tales of not going near a ‘mad’ person because they are dangerous. Those were the days of absolute ignorance of beyond. In today’s world with medical science and cure, sufferers can lead a normal life with the right medicines. Society should change the mindset on these people.

The cosmic vastness of creation brings forth lives into this world where many treasure it as a gift of God.

We are living in an era of the extremes in this modern world. Many a life seems worthless, with daily death and terrorists sucide. Many innocent lives perished.

And many who want to live a decent life are not given a fair change. Sufferers of mental illness are not criminals and for all fairness, they are as human as we are, they have a right to be among us.

Raymond, loving a schizophrenic is not a crime and for that matter your wife of 35 years from day one and before. I salute your greatness of mind and spirit. Love her through eternity.

“We love the human race, it is the human that betrays many a human”. -leesjuan

True enough, there is insufficient awareness of the multitudes of mental illnesses, and often Singapore society has a tendency to ridicule or avoid them. Perhaps it all comes down to compassion — I don’t know really — but I think Singaporeans can certainly do more, even if in just their behaviour.

Considering the woeful situation of medical welfare in Singapore, I’m afraid most of the help will have to come from NGOs and kind people out there.

I have too a closed relative who is suffering from schizophrenia. It is tough for an outsider to understanding the difficulty faced by the caregivers. It starts from making the patient to realise his illness, making him to seek medical help, and making him to take medication regularly. It is a tough long road.

We glad we did not seek any religious help as I know there are family resisting the idea of visiting a mental health institution. There is a huge stigma attached to a mental patient. The affected family members prefer to make him go for religious consultation. Often, without medication, the illness get worsen.

I would like to take this opportunity to tell the public about removing the bad name of mental illness.

1) Brain is one of the most complex organ in a human body. The heart, kidney, liver, etc can go wrong sometime. So do the brain. Please don’t see mental patient with a biased mind. It is the chemical unbalance in the brain. The patient needs seek help early and he/she will be cured early. (This applies to depression, bipolar, oppressive compulsive behavior, etc).

2) Only a very small percent of the mental patient is violent. Please do not overly behave as if they will hurt you.

3) Avoid using words like ‘crazy’ or the such. Brain aliment such as Alzheimer, parkinson’s disease or dementia may catch us up one day when we are old. Be compassionate and help the unfortunate today.