Thursday, June 11, 2020

Circuit breaker saw positive effects or health benefits for some

Source Website: https://www.asiaone.com/singapore/circuit-breaker-saw-positive-effects-or-health-benefits-some
By Janice Tai, The Straits Times, Asiaone, 08 June 2020 at 08:48 am


People exercise at the Promontory @ Marina Bay on June 6, 2020.
PHOTO: People exercise at the Promontory @ Marina Bay on June 6, 2020.
Photo: The Straits Times
Picture posted by Janice Tai, The Straits Times, Asiaone on 08 June 2020 at 08:48 am
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The girl had not finished revising her schoolwork, so her mother cancelled their planned movie outing.

This prompted the 14-year-old, who was already struggling with self-esteem issues, to go online in March and express suicidal thoughts.

A friend saw the post and alerted her school. The student, who declined to be named, then began receiving counselling from both her school counsellor and a private practitioner.

She had exhibited self-harming behaviour before, scratching and cutting herself with her fingernails.

But when the circuit breaker period started in early April, the situation suddenly improved.


The girl had not finished revising her schoolwork, so her mother cancelled their planned movie outing.
PHOTO: The girl had not finished revising her schoolwork, so her mother cancelled their planned movie outing. This prompted the 14-year-old, who was already struggling with self-esteem issues, to go online in March and express suicidal thoughts.
She had exhibited self-harming behaviour before, scratching and cutting herself with her fingernails. But when the circuit breaker period started in early April, the situation suddenly improved.
Picture posted by Hayley Robert Photography
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"We were all at home so I could talk to her at night from 10pm all the way to 1am or 2am to try to understand her better. She now calls me her BFF," said her mother, who wanted to be known only as Madam Chan. BFF is teenage slang for "best friends forever".

"Being away from school also meant that she was less exposed to certain friends who were confiding in her their self-harm or suicidal thoughts," said Madam Chan, 40, a businesswoman.

While the United Nations has recently warned of a global mental health crisis due to the Covid-19 pandemic and local surveys have measured the mental health fallout, charities here say the circuit breaker period has also produced positive effects or health benefits for some Singaporeans.


The United Nations has recently warned of a global mental health crisis due to the Covid-19 pandemic and local surveys have measured the mental health fallout.
PHOTO: The United Nations has recently warned of a global mental health crisis due to the Covid-19 pandemic and local surveys have measured the mental health fallout.
Picture posted by Hayley Robert Photography 
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They now have the time and space to pause, reflect and recharge, allowing them to better care for themselves and their family members.

"I used to think that we have to do something big, like go on a holiday or do something memorable, for me and my family members to get to know each other better," said Madam Chan's daughter.

"But now I realise that nothing extraordinary needs to happen. Even in quieter times, we can learn how to talk and communicate," added the teenager, who no longer feels suicidal though she is still being monitored for self-harming behaviour.


They now have the time and space to pause, reflect and recharge, allowing them to better care for themselves and their family members.
PHOTO: They now have the time and space to pause, reflect and recharge, allowing them to better care for themselves and their family members.
". . . now I realise that nothing extraordinary needs to happen. Even in quieter times, we can learn how to talk and communicate," added the teenager, who no longer feels suicidal though she is still being monitored for self-harming behaviour.
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Ms Theresa Pong, principal counsellor at the charity Focus on the Family Singapore (FOTF), said: "With the circuit breaker, many have experienced intensified emotions, but some have developed better coping mechanisms and greater resilience in managing these emotions moving forward."

A secondary school administrator in her 50s, known only as Madam Lim, had been displaying signs of near burnout late last year.


Social worker Evangeline Yeh, founder of non-profit organisation Unity Movement, doing a simulated video conferencing and counselling session with a client.
PHOTO: Social worker Evangeline Yeh, founder of non-profit organisation Unity Movement, doing a simulated video conferencing and counselling session with a client.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF EVANGELINE YEH
Picture posted by Janice Tai, The Straits Times, Asiaone on 08 June 2020 at 08:48 am
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She was bringing home work to finish, and some nights she was able to sleep for only two to three hours. She found herself feeling tired all the time and became forgetful.

Burnout was formally recognised as a medical condition last year.

If Madam Lim had continued down that path, she would have become unable to function well in her job before long and might have suffered from mental health issues, said Mr Ng Yong Hao, a social worker from Whispering Hearts Family Centre, where Madam Lim sought help in March.

Then, with the start of the circuit breaker period in early April, she was able to work from home two days a week.

That meant she could get seven hours of sleep every night and eat regular meals. After finishing work, she had time to go for a jog, read and watch movies.

During the weekends, she would do personal reflection exercises by writing in a journal.

Such routines helped to regulate her sleeping patterns and she began feeling more energised and less tense and agitated. Having gone back to work in the school, she now intends to continue with these practices.


Burnout was formally recognised as a medical condition last year.
PHOTO: Burnout was formally recognised as a medical condition last year.
Madam Lim  with the start of the circuit breaker period in early April, she was able to work from home two days a week. That meant she could get seven hours of sleep every night and eat regular meals. After finishing work, she had time to go for a jog, read and watch movies. During the weekends, she would do personal reflection exercises by writing in a journal.
Such routines helped to regulate her sleeping patterns and she began feeling more energised and less tense and agitated. Having gone back to work in the school, she now intends to continue with these practices.
Picture posted by Ivana Stibůrková on 11 September 2019 - The great importance of dreams
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Social worker Evangeline Yeh, founder of non-profit organisation Unity Movement, who counselled Madam Chan's daughter, said it is crucial for individuals to think about what routines or aspects of their lives helped them during the circuit breaker period and keep them for good. These lifestyle changes are beneficial for both mental and physical health.

Dr Yeo Wee Ming, 48, started an environmental hygiene company in 2015. He already knew back then that viruses and bacteria could easily spread on various surfaces.

So he tried to educate his family on using their palms or knuckles - instead of their fingertips - to press lift buttons or to turn doorknobs, as people often touch their own faces or bodies with their fingertips.


Dr Yeo Wee Ming, 48, started an environmental hygiene company in 2015. He already knew back then that viruses and bacteria could easily spread on various surfaces.
PHOTO: Dr Yeo Wee Ming, 48, started an environmental hygiene company in 2015. He already knew back then that viruses and bacteria could easily spread on various surfaces.
So he tried to educate his family on using their palms or knuckles - instead of their fingertips - to press lift buttons or to turn doorknobs, as people often touch their own faces or bodies with their fingertips.
Picture saved by Sarah to Aesthetic in D&D 5e: Lerissa Lee
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"I have been nagging them about it since 2015 but it fell on deaf ears. But now, finally, I see them faithfully doing it these few months and I believe they will continue with these habits for the rest of their lives."

Ms Pong said one's mental and emotional well-being is often linked to relationships at home.

FOTF's recent survey of more than 1,000 mothers found that mums who indicated their spouses as their main source of support reported significantly lower stress.


Recent survey of more than 1,000 mothers found that mums who indicated their spouses as their main source of support reported significantly lower stress.
PHOTO: Recent survey of more than 1,000 mothers found that mums who indicated their spouses as their main source of support reported significantly lower stress.
Photo:  Studio Pierrot
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Said Ms Pong: "Families who are better able to cope and navigate relationships at home and have used the circuit breaker as an opportunity to nurture stronger relationships have emerged with better mental and emotional well-being."

Mr Ng agreed that it is about one's ability to adjust to a new normal.

"People will learn a greater level of adaptability in an ever-changing environment... That is an even more important life skill to have now."


Families who are better able to cope and navigate relationships at home and have used the circuit breaker as an opportunity to nurture stronger relationships have emerged with better mental and emotional well-being.
PHOTO: "Families who are better able to cope and navigate relationships at home and have used the circuit breaker as an opportunity to nurture stronger relationships have emerged with better mental and emotional well-being." It is about one's ability to adjust to a new normal.

"People will learn a greater level of adaptability in an ever-changing environment... That is an even more important life skill to have now."
Picture posted by Hayley Robert Photography
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SINGAPORE HELPLINES
National Care Hotline: 1800-202-6868

Mental well-being
Fei Yue's Online Counselling Service: eC2.sg
Institute of Mental Health's Mental Health Helpline: 6389-2222
Samaritans of Singapore: 1800-221-4444
Tinkle Friend: 1800-274-4788
Silver Ribbon: 6386-3714

Marital and parenting issues
Community Psychology Hub's Online Counselling platform: CPHOnlineCounselling.sg

Counselling
TOUCHline (Counselling): 1800-377-2252
Care Corner Counselling Centre (Mandarin): 1800-353-5800


In some types of vaccines the virus is killed and then injected into our bodies so that our bodies can produce the necessary antibodies.
In some types of vaccines the virus is killed and then injected into our bodies so that our bodies can produce the necessary antibodies.
PHOTO: In some types of vaccines the virus is killed and then injected into our bodies so that our bodies can produce the necessary antibodies.  Our immune system can thus defend our bodies from the virus.  In a similar way the death of Jesus for us all enables that seed to now indwell us so we can develop an immune defence against that spiritual virus – sin.

Without an adequate vaccine our only option (as with COVID-19 since no vaccine has yet been developed) is quarantine.  This is also true in the spiritual realm.  That quarantine is more commonly known as Hell.

When the serpents infected the Israelites they were told to look at the bronze serpent held up on a pole to be cured.  You might visualize this as some bitten person rolling out of his bed to look at the nearby bronze serpent and then being healed.  But there were about 3 million people in the Israelite camp (they counted over 600 000 men of military age) – the size of a large modern city.  Chances were high that those bitten were several kilometers away, and out of sight from, the bronze serpent pole.  So those bitten by the snakes had to make a choice.  They could take standard precautions involving binding the wound tightly and resting to restrict blood flow and spread of the venom.  Or they would have to trust the remedy announced by Moses and walk several kilometers, raising the blood flow and spread of the venom, to look at the bronze serpent on the pole.  It would be the trust or lack of trust in the word of Moses that would determine each person’s course of action.

"However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness." (Romans 4:5).

We do not trust our ability to fight off the infection, but trust God who made the vaccine in the Seed.  We trust him with the details of the vaccine.  This is why ‘Gospel’ means ‘Good news’.  Anyone who has been infected with a deadly disease but now hears that a vaccine is available and given for free – that is good news. The Gospel invites us to come and see, to examine that Seed. [2]
Picture posted by Iván Herranz, Artstation - Jörmungand God Of War
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By Janice Tai, The Straits Times, Asiaone, 08 June 2020 at 08:48 am
This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.
For the latest updates on the coronavirus, visit here.



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Reference
[1] Janice Tai, The Straits Times, Asiaone, Circuit breaker saw positive effects or health benefits for some, posted on 08 June 2020 at 08:48 am, https://www.asiaone.com/singapore/circuit-breaker-saw-positive-effects-or-health-benefits-some

[2] Good News of the Gospel Way, The Gospel thru the lens of COVID-19, Quarantine & Vaccines, https://theway.i-am.site/the-gospel-through-the-lens-of-quarantine/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIltD8nMr56QIVih0rCh2ONgW0EAAYASAAEgJTMPD_BwE


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