Nine out of ten people say that individuals with mental illness can improve in the event that they wish to. And five out of ten say it’s an indication of non-public weakness. These findings, from a 2015 study by the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) in Singapore, are astounding to Shafiqah Ramani, a mental health advocate who has borderline personality disorder.
“I’ve always found it really funny that people see people with mental health issues as weak and as being able to get through it if they try hard enough, but cancer survivors are called survivors,” she says. “For people with mental health issues, everything can be a struggle, like getting out of bed. So I think the struggle of doing those little things every day makes you a hero.”
Shafiqah says that after attempting to hide her feelings about being neglected by her father for 2 years, she “broke down” and attempted suicide for the primary time on the age of 11. At polytechnic, she was severely bullied by her classmates. This led to quite a few further suicide attempts and several other admissions to IMH. Last 12 months, when she was a second-year student, she dropped out of faculty and needed to spend two months in a psychiatric ward. “I still have suicidal thoughts, but I have a very strong reason to keep fighting because I am fighting not only for myself but also for my friends.”
You see, Shafiqah isn’t only a mental health patient—she’s a social entrepreneur who’s tackling mental health issues with technology. She and her team created Psychkick, a mobile app that goals to make cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)—probably the most widely used therapy for mental health conditions—more engaging for patients.
Boring and outdated
In cognitive behavioral therapy, patients typically need to fill out a paper form between sessions. Some find it “boring and old-fashioned,” and about 60% don’t do CBT tasks properly, writing random things down just before their next therapy session, in line with Shafiqah’s informal survey of 500 patients. The app goals to enhance therapy outcomes by allowing energetic monitoring of patients between sessions and making the tasks more experientially interesting.
“For us, Psychkick is essentially a way to provide support to people with mental health issues. We call them heroes and we are like their supporters who help them get better.” The Singapore Centre for Social Enterprise has awarded Psychkick startup funding for its beta testing phase.
Shafiqah’s work at Psychkick involves constructing relationships with individuals with mental health issues and meeting with them usually to search out out what they like and don’t like concerning the treatment they’re receiving.
As a part of her mission to bring Psychkick into the general public health system, she also meets with mental health professionals, IT professionals and health ministry officials. But her efforts to assist her peers don’t end with the app. She’s spoken to government ministers about the right way to provide individuals with mental health issues with the identical support that individuals with physical disabilities receive. She’s also shared her story to assist more people understand mental health issues by chatting with university psychology students and other startup founders, in addition to in venues just like the Singapore International Foundation’s Young Social Entrepreneurs program, the LeapForGood initiative and the *SCAPE youth community project In My Shoes.
“Many Singaporeans believe that people with mental health issues are weak and can overcome their challenges with effort, but they would not say the same about people with physical disabilities. I think one way to increase empathy towards people with mental health issues is to expose them to real stories and journeys. I share my struggles, the misconceptions of others, even in my family, the current situation of mental health care and the gaps that have not been filled for too long,” says Shafiqah.
Does the 23-year-old see herself as a superhero?
“I see myself as a supporter because I really want my friends to be empowered, to take what they’re going through and say, ‘You know what, I’m strong. I’m a hero because I struggled with mental health issues.’ I want to continue to support my friends and future people that I meet and say that you’re just as much of a hero as the person who beat cancer.”
Learn more about Psychocopwhose goal is to make cognitive behavioral therapy more engaging for patients with mental illnesses.
Psychkick is one in every of six winners of the 2016 Singapore International Foundation competition. Young Social Entrepreneurs Program
– More at: http://www.ourbetterworld.org/en/story/mental-illness-not-mental-weakness#sthash.VK9c5fOI.dpuf
