Talking about mental health

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

i would like to share a story about my patient who i first met this year. (I apologised as im unable to remember all the small details, hence the general description on some information)

She came for her first appointment in our clinic after being referred by pediatric team in hospital melaka.

She brought a baby with her who was still a few months old. the baby was under pediatric for brain malformations but stable. she was carrying the baby on straps.

they referred the mother for depression.

she introduced herself started telling her stories. She is a single mother, her ex husband left her after they got married. her family also abandoned her for marrying him. She now lives in rented home, in which she was unable to pay for the past few months.

She did admitted of past mistakes in which we did not delve into too much during our first interview.

However, due to time constraint, she asked to leave early to catch her bus going back to Alor Gajah which last depart around 5pm.

She had just enough money to go home by bus. Not for grab or taxi.

In which we helped by giving her some money (one time only, not a practice here).

She continued telling her problems.

And she had to work to support herself and her child.

In telling all this, i can see the sadness and exhaustion in her eyes. 

She did told me that she experiences low mood, and sometimes the ideas of dying would be better for her. She had problem sleeping at night.

But she never wanted to kill herself. She wanted to continue living for her child.

During this period i listened intently to understand. To know who she was and why she came here.

She came because she wanted to talk. She wanted someone to listen. 

We offered her help by listening and understanding her situation. By giving her mental support. By offering medications to help her sleep and improve her mood.

She kindly refused medication as she feels better and wanted to try non-pharmacological treatment for now.

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Few weeks later a staff informed me that the same lady with a strapped baby 'kirim salam' after her appointment. I was not in the clinic during her visit.

:)

I heard that she is doing better and have a stable jobs and carer for her child.

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I learned that sometimes by being there, being present, and listening intently, genuinely care can help someone in need.

People can suffer mental health due to physical exhaustion, financial difficulties, family discord, marital problems.

Medical illness such as debilitating injuries, chronic diabetes, stroke which causes paralysis and prolonged hospitalizations can exacerbated or increase the risk of mental illness.

And vice versa too, mental health can cause distress in various aspects of life. 

treating one can improve the other.

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According to WHO, "mental health is a state of mental well-being that enables people to cope with the stresses of life, realize their abilities, learn well and work well, and contribute to their community."

A good mental health means we are able to think, feel and behave in a way that is healthy and beneficial for us and our surrounding.

Where are we in the spectrum of mental wellness?

Majority of us might not have a label put by doctors or psychiatrists.

"Mental health is more than the absence of mental disorders. It exists on a complex continuum, which is experienced differently from one person to the next, with varying degrees of difficulty and distress and potentially very different social and clinical outcomes."

How is your mental health? Let's talk.