Conference: Spirit Possession and Mental Health

Spirit Possession and Mental Health
 http://bmehealth.org/
19http://bmehealth.org/th March 2012 / London

Spirit possession is recognised world wide across many cultures and by several religions. Spirit possession is often seen as an idiom of distress causing a change in behaviour and mental well being. Spirit possession is also included in the ICD 10 and DSM IV classifications of mental disorders, yet the extent to which it is recognised and / or discussed in clinical practice is less than we would expect, even in UK cities where there resides a diverse population. This one day event will consider the critical themes and debates on spirit possession from an anthropological, social, psychological, medical and religious perspective using a range of illustrative case study, clinical practice, research and short film presentations. Key questions including the following will be considered: •       Discuss possible definitions of and different kinds of spirit possession •       Debate the key elements which typify spirit possession •       Discuss who can make a diagnosis of spirit possession and how such a        diagnosis might be made •       Compare and contrast how spirit possession might be viewed by         clinicians, religious leaders, healers, the "patient", family        and community members •       Discuss the value of using the patient's explanatory model of         the illness •       Reflect upon the key issues associated with defining what is        "normal" and "abnormal" •       Discuss folk healing practices in different cultures and        "treatment" options including exorcism •       Consider whether there is a need to enhance joint working between         mental health professionals and traditional healers.

Programme of the day 9.00 - 9.30 Registration, Tea & Coffee 9.30 - 10.40 Introduction & Chair Spirit Possession and Mental Health Services Professor SASHI SASHIDHARAN 10.40 - 11.30 Anthropology, Cognition and Spirit Possession  Dr. SIMON DEIN 11.30 - 11.45 Tea & Coffee 11.50 - 12.40 What happened to the Dybbuk? Spirit Possession in Judaism Professor KATE LOEWENTHAL 12.40 - 1.00 Morning session Q&A 1.00 - 2.00 Lunch & Networking 2.00 - 2.50 What is Jinn Possession? Case studies from Egypt: Lessons for the UK Dr. MOHAMMED ABOUELLEIL RASHED  2.50 - 3.40 Spirit Possession in Ladakh (North India, State of Jammu and Kashmir): Lessons for the UK Professor SOPHIE DAY 3.40 - 4.00 Afternoon Q&A 4.00 - 4.30 Plenary, Closure & Evaluation sheets

Who Should attend? This conference will be relevant to all interested in this field as well as all professionals, including those from Local Authorities and NHS trusts across the UK, Psychiatrists, GPs, Psychologists, Psychotherapists, Counsellors, Early Intervention Teams, CPN’s, OT’s, Social Workers, Chaplains, Community Faith Leaders & Healers, Equality Leads, CommunityDevelopment Workers, Service User Representatives, Charities, Third Sector, Educational Establishments, Academics and Policy makers.	Where? Oxford House, Derbyshire Street, Bethnal Green, London E2 6HG www.oxfordhouse.org.uk
Conference Contact Ahmed Qureshi (conference co-ordinator) tel. 07540 356 526 email us on: info@bmehealth.org or visit us on www.bmehealth.org

Yahoo Sg: Student at NTU found dead in hall of residence

Student at NTU found dead in hall of residence

 http://sg.news.yahoo.com/ntu-student-found-dead-in-hall-of-residence.html

 

• One of the corridors along the upper floors of a block in NTU's Hall of Residence 13. (Photo courtesy of Ronald Loh)

(UPDATED: 10:50pm, adding more details, statement from NTU)

A student attending a bridging programme at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) was found dead in one of its halls of residence late on Friday night.

Shin Min Daily News identified the student as 20-year-old Lan Xing Ye, who is from Fujian province in China. The paper reported that her roommate returned to the room they shared on the sixth floor of Hall 13 on Friday night to find her motionless on her bed, with a plastic bag over her head.

Police were alerted to the incident at 12:05am, and are currently investigating the case, which they have classified as an unnatural death.

In an email circulated to students in the late afternoon on Saturday, NTU president Bertil Andersson confirmed the incident, saying preliminary police investigations showed there was no sign of forced entry, and that Lan showed no other visible injuries.

He further added that NTU is extending all support and assistance to her family.

The paper also reported that Lan first came to Singapore to study slightly more than a year ago, in December 2010. She reportedly won a scholarship with the Ministry of Education (MOE) and was supposed to choose her major this year after her bridging course at the university, which she started after moving into its hostel a month ago.

The one-and-a-half year bridging programme acts as a preparatory course, which allows international students to take introductory courses in disciplines they may want to major in, and learn English as well.

Lan was also said to have given tuition in her spare time, advertising for students online, possibly for the payment of her school fees.

Her friends told Shin Min that she was cheerful, and showed no signs of any problems, although they added it was possible she may have been stressed from the pressure to do well academically. The paper also reported that Lan's roommate said she suffered from clinical depression.

In a statement, an NTU spokesperson said that professional counsellors with the school are assisting Lan's family, friends, coursemates and residents at Hall 13 who may need help coping with the emotional impact of the tragedy.

"Together with NTU’s President, the management, faculty, staff and students would like to express our deepest sympathies and condolences to the family of the deceased, her course mates and friends during this very trying time," he added.

P.S. From Silver Ribbon Singapore Facebook Group:

While everyone is busy preparing for CNY celebration, the NTU counsellors are assisting Lan's family, friends, coursemates and residents at Hall 13 who may need help coping with the emotional impact of the tragedy. Let's send our deepest condolences to the family of the deceased, her course mates and friends. If you know someone who is feeling suicidal, get help immediately or advise them to contact SOS at 1800-221 4444.

Asiaone: Female undergrad suffocates to death in school hostel

Female undergrad suffocates to death in school hostel

http://www.asiaone.com/News/Latest+News/Edvantage/Story/A1Story20120121-323294.html

Saturday, Jan 21, 2012

A female undergrad at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) was found dead early this morning in her dormitory room.

Miss Lum Xin Ye, 19, a Chinese national who resided on the sixth floor of NTU hostel hall 13 was found with a plastic bag around her head at around 12.05am, reported Shin Min Daily.

She was wearing a white shirt and black shorts when she was found unconscious on her bed by her roommate. There were no visible injuries on her body.

The Chinese daily reported that Miss Lum, who joined NTU last year as a scholarship recipient had been suffering from depression.

Before her death, she was attending bridging courses in preparation to choose a course to specialise in.

She also gave tuition part-time to earn extra money.

An NTU spokesperson has confirmed the death of a student at the school's hostel, and said that police investigations are ongoing.

There was no evidence of forced entry into the room.

The police have classified this as a case of unnatural death.

vtay@sph.com.sg

Halfway house planned for youngsters with mental disorders; First such facility here to help them return to living safely in society

Halfway house planned for youngsters with mental disorders;
First such facility here to help them return to living safely in society

  

The Straits Times Singapore

December 24, 2011 Saturday

BYLINE: Judith Tan

SECTION: SINGAPORE

LENGTH: 1288 words

A HALFWAY house will go a long way in helping children and young people with mental disorders get back to living safely in the community.

Such a residential facility is what the Singapore Association for Mental Health (SAMH) plans to set up.

It will be the first such facility in Singapore as existing ones cater only to people over 18 years old who have mental health issues.

The funding for this initiative comes from Temasek Cares, a non-profit philanthropic organisation.

Since April last year, it has committed $472,000 over two years towards SAMH's YouthReach programme. 

SAMH acting head Ang Poh Hee said: 'With the money, we are able to develop resources like manpower to help the children and youth stay within the community.'

With the funding, SAMH is also adding mentorship and a 24-hour helpline under its YouthReach programme.

This will help reach out to more than 170 children and young people with mental disorders.

Volunteers are also needed for this, said SAMH president Daniel Fung, who is a child and adolescent psychiatrist.

'We are looking for young people to come on board as volunteers to support and guide those struggling with their disorders and to get back to the community,' he said.

He added that young people needing the most help are likely to be from the higher-risk groups such as school dropouts.

'While MCYS (Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports) is monitoring them, we still need concrete programmes to get them to a safe arena,' he said.

YouthReach was started in 2006 to address the lack of community-based support for children and young people with mental disorders. It is the first community-based support programme providing intensive case management strictly for those aged between 11 and 18 who are diagnosed with mental disorders.

But it was only in June last year that it expanded to include those at risk with serious psychological or emotional issues.

Mr Ang said that, as a result, YouthReach can now help more young people who have not been receiving proper mental intervention.

Some activities useful in this area include counselling, art therapy and sports.

Despite their afflictions, these children and young people can still develop to their maximum potential and reintegrate with their family and the community, added Dr Fung, who is also chairman of the medical board at the Institute of Mental Health.

The new halfway house will help such children and young people further develop social and functional life skills that will enable them to live safely within the community.

Ms Woon Saet Nyoon, general manager of Temasek Cares, said a National Mental Health Survey last month found that the number of young people with mental afflictions seems to be increasing.

'We at Temasek Cares want to help provide the financial means for early intervention programmes and equip these kids with life skills so they can get help and don't develop serious mental problems,' she said.

Dr Fung added that a residential programme would be ideal to help bridge the transition from hospitalisation to a return to society.

'It is often difficult for an adult with mental disorder to make the transition from being hospitalised to being back in society, let alone a child,' he said.

'Currently, there are no residential facilities for them and staying long term at the hospital will make it even harder to assimilate back.'

He said the challenge would be to make sure 'we have the support system to handle this and available resources are created within the community to carry it out'.

Indeed, the YouthReach programme has shown good results. Of the 140 children and young people helped between November last year and September, about 91 per cent or 127 stayed out of hospital or cut down on the time they were warded.

Dr Fung said that only about 1 per cent were deemed 'serious cases', which include major depression, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

juditht@sph.com.sg

Resume blogging

Dear readers,


I have contacted SPH and this is their reply:


"Hi Kelvin,


Thank you for your interest in hosting SPH-copyrighted articles on your blog where we notice it has no commercial interest. We will be glad for you to host our articles on your blog without licensing fees so long as there are no commercial interest on your blog. However, in the event that you decide to monetize your blog, the following licensing fees will apply."


Since I have no plans to monetize this blog in the near future, I can now put my articles back online. Thanks everyone for your patience.

A Belated Notice

Dear readers,

As you might have noticed, this blog has been shut down. Sorry for making the abrupt decision. As for the reason, it has to do with SPH suing Yahoo Singapore for copyright infringement. I have been harbouring a cavalier attitude towards copyright so far, reproducing entire SPH articles, albeit with attribution and link. One reader and even my psychiatrist have taken the trouble to warn me about the legal issues, but at first I so believed in my cause that they have fallen on deaf ears. I might not be sued or forced to take down the site but I think I shouldn’t take the chance. To forestall a situation where I am faced with a cul-de-sac, I have decided to shut down this blog temporarily.

I am not conversant in copyright law but I think there are two ways around this. One is to abbreviate the SPH content and provide a link. The other is to provide more original content.

Both present problems for me. First, is it OK if I quote the first paragraph? How much is OK? Secondly, it is even more likely that I’ll get into trouble if I voice my half-baked ideas and grievances on mental health issues, which I did a little of before but I took down some of it. I can be rather radical in my views and that can get me in trouble.   

But if there is a need, I would go on providing mental health news in Singapore in the future. If you support me, please leave your thoughts and comments or contact me on how I can improve this blog. Much appreciated.  

This blog is shut down until further notice. Thanks everyone....

ST THINK: You can't snap out of it

The Straits Times Singapore
www.straitstimes.com/

November 27, 2011 Sunday

When someone says he is depressed, it is not uncommon for friends and relatives to tell him, sometimes in exasperation, to 'snap out of it'. But as Dr Mok Yee Ming, deputy chief of the department of general psychiatry in the Institute of Health (IMH), pointed out in The Sunday Times last week, sufferers of clinical depression cannot just snap out of it or force themselves to recover. They must have proper treatment and medication. Misconceptions like this one - that the sufferer brings the problem upon himself and wallows in it rather than takes control of it - often surround mental illness, despite efforts by the Government over the years to educate the public about it. 

The social stigma that attaches itself to mental illness has not gone away either. Which is why the IMH team that led a recently concluded study on mental illness in Singapore has made public education one of its chief recommendations in tackling the problem. But there must be inter-ministry effort, because previous campaigns have obviously not been effective enough. 

The Singapore Mental Health Study, a three-year, $6.9 million nationwide study, found that more than one in 10 people will be stricken by mental illness in their lifetime. It identified depression, alcohol abuse and obsessive-compulsive disorder as the top three mental disorders. Alarming though the results were, there is a new generation of drugs, especially anti-depressants, developed in recent years that has proven very effective in treating depression and anxiety disorders.

Patients on the medication can often lead normal, productive lives. But they must seek medical attention in the first place. When they do not, they will be trapped in a vicious circle of emotional disturbances and physical decline and not be able to be integrated into society.

Ray of Light: Cat dumped in rubbish bin- Set up website so we can assess mental health

Ray of Light: Cat dumped in rubbish bin- Set up website so we can assess mental health

http://rayhope8.blogspot.com/2011/11/cat-dumped-in-rubbish-bin-set-up.html

Raymond’s letter to The New Paper is published today on page 21, Wed 30^th November 2011.

I refer to the report, “He’s still responsible” (The New Paper, Nov 26).

I’m not at all surprised at the way cat lovers and netizens on forums like Stomp have demanded that Madam Hamidah’s husband, Mr Michael who suffered a relapse of his bipolar condition, be taken to task for his actions.

But some of the comments on Stomp are far from kind. What is the point of showing love to animals, when we are so unkind to a human being who has fallen ill with a mental disorder that is so unpredictable?  Bear in mind that the couple do love cats - otherwise they would not have adopted four cats, would they?

Given the findings of a study by the Institute of Mental Health which reveal that one person in 10 will suffer from some form of mental illness, it is imperative that we cast out nets wider to reach out to everyone in our society.

The key to tackling mental health issues is to secure a better understanding of the illnesses.

One way would be to set up a public funded website for people to do a  self-assessment for potential mental health  problems. 

Confidential

Make the exercise confidential and available in the four main languages.

The questions asked can be designed to review one’s situation with regard to some of the more common mental health issues including, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety, addiction and so on.

Such a screening will not provide a diagnosis, will but will give guidance as to where help can be sought.

It can be managed by experts who should be able to help the person doing the tests decide whether to go for treatment or not.

Grassroots leaders and the Community Development Councils should reach out to the lonely elderly, the vulnerable groups and those who do not have access to computers and carry out face-to-face assessment of residents.

For this, grassroots leaders should be trained in mental health. 

There should also be a system in place to ensure that patients under psychiatric care do not default on treatment and medications.

Madam Hamidah is going to go through some challenging times, so let’s learn to rally around her, instead of giving her more stress.

RAYMOND ANTHONY FERNANDO

Today: Suicides: Do more so those in need get help

Suicides: Do more so those in need get help

Today

Letter from Sivakkumaran Govindasamy

04:45 AM Nov 25, 2011

http://www.todayonline.com/Voices/EDC111125-0000028/Suicides--Do-more-so-those-in-need-get-help

THE report "Bedok Reservoir deaths reflect copycat behaviour: Balakrishnan" (Nov 22) brings attention to a bigger issue: The cost of and accessibility to trained professionals for those facing mental problems.

Stress levels in Singapore have increased. A 2010 survey by the Institute of Mental Health showed that one in 16 people have suffered from depression, the most common mental illness here, and it took an average of four years for a person to seek help for this.

Clearly, there is a problem here. The Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports and the Ministry of Health must do more than have annual campaigns to de-stigmatise mental illness and raise awareness.

They should be proactive in educating and identifying those at risk.

One option could be to encourage our general practitioners, who are most likely the first resort for many mental health patients, to be equipped with the skills to identify and refer patients to specialists.

After all, many people may be unaware that they have a mental problem and that they can go beyond GPs for professional help.

In that regard, we should decentralise accessibility by having more trained counsellors and psychiatrists at our community hospitals and polyclinics.

Anecdotal evidence suggests that we do not have enough of them, and I am curious to know what those numbers are (per capita) and how we compare to other developed cities. If there is a shortage, we should have a plan to rectify this.

Finally, not many people may be aware that they can use Medisave for psychiatric help.

I wonder, though, if the S$150 daily limit and S$5,000 annual limit is sufficient. Are there funding options for lower income groups, the elderly and recent residents, who, from anecdotal evidence, fall into the "high risk" category?

It is easy to blame the media for over-reporting suicides. However, I would rather that we, as a society, openly discuss mental problems instead of brushing them under the carpet.

We will never totally cut out suicides, but we could do more so that those in need get help as soon as possible. That is more likely to save lives than notice boards at reservoirs and "responsible" media coverage would.