Caregiver to Daughter, member from ACC Hougang
I could still remember vividly how challenging it was to care for my daughter who has mental health conditions. She became extremely unreasonable in almost all her decisions in life. There are times when she would get very emotional and yell at the family. She searched online about her symptoms and suspected that she may be suffering from schizophrenia. She refused to let me seek help for her and forbade me to share her conditions with others. Thus when my relatives asked me about her, I could only smile and rejected all help that I needed.
This went on till one day in 2018. She could not stop screaming at home. I was worried stiff and decided to call an ambulance to send her to the Institute of Mental Health (IMH). She was warded at IMH for many months, and I visited her a few times every week. Before her discharge, she was referred to Anglican Care Centre (ACC) (Hougang) for psychiatric day rehabilitation.
At ACC (Hougang), she received counselling sessions and attended different classes to help her improve her quality of life. The counsellor taught her ways to prevent relapse of her conditions, which I believed is extremely important for her to learn. She started to have better control over her emotions and no longer was fixated on her irrational thoughts. We could talk more at home, and her relationship with the family improved, especially with her sister.
I am relieved that our lives are more in order now. Now, my daughter will even encourage me to pursue my interest such as singing at community centres or renting a space at the park to grow my small edible farm. I want to encourage all caregivers who have their loved one with mental health conditions, that you do not give up loving and caring for them, as each of them is unique, we should not despise them but motivate them to pursue their unique goals.
