Mental Health and Culture

Stigma against persons with mental health conditions (PMHCs) continues to delay and in some cases, even prevent help-seeking, to deleterious effect. Stories have an impact on perceptions and experiences of reality. Television writers, novelists and playwrights can play an important role in changing public attitudes towards PMHCs by developing nuanced and carefully crafted representations of mental health conditions.

This roundtable by NTU will introduce an SSRTG-funded project to develop resources on mental health narrative ethical considerations for cultural text producers in Singapore. These resources are being developed in consultation with the Institute of Mental Health (IMH), based on close reading of local mental health narratives, focus group discussions with PMHCs, and multidisciplinary and cross-sector roundtables with representatives from different industries and communities, such as mental health professionals and writers.

Join us as we bring together academics, mental health professionals, patients, caregivers and writers for an insightful discussion about the ethical considerations involved in the cultural representation of mental health in Singapore.

Speakers

Assoc Prof Graham Matthews

Graham teaches Medical Humanities at Nanyang Technological University. He currently leads an interdisciplinary and cross-sector research project on culture and mental health stigma in collaboration with the Institute of Mental Health (IMH).

Prof David Teo Choon Liang

David is a Clinical Assistant Professor at Duke-NUS Medical School. He is also a Senior Consultant Psychiatrist with the Department of Psychological Medicine and Department of Sleep Medicine Surgery and Science at Changi General Hospital (CGH).

Assoc Prof Mythily Subramaniam

Mythily is Assistant Chairman of the Medical Board (Research) at the Institute of Mental Health (IMH). She has a concurrent teaching appointment at the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, National University Singapore.

Assoc Prof Tan Bhing Leet

Bhing Leet is Cluster Director of the Health and Social Sciences Cluster, Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT). She oversees the Allied Health and Nursing faculty and teaches mental health in the Occupational Therapy programme at SIT.

Danielle Lim

Danielle Lim is an award-winning author of four books. Her memoir, The Sound of SCH: A Mental Breakdown, a Life Journey, won the Singapore Literature Prize 2016 (non-fiction), which looks at mental health; giving a moving account of human resiliency and sacrifice in the face of brokenness.

Mahita Vas

Mahita became a mental health advocate after the success of her first book, Praying to the Goddess of Mercy: A Memoir of Mood Swings. Mahita also volunteers regularly with Transient Workers Count Too, a migrant worker welfare charity.