falalalalaaaaaaa~

=)

Went IMH today for xmas celebration with some of the patients there from the psychogeriatric wards! Was a simple thingy, but not bad lah. Just decorated their wards for them and xmas carolled! =) Wheee! I love xmas carolling! Totally reminds me of the choir times! Hehe. I love singing in a choir! =D

Anyway, i'm digressing.

But I wanted to comment that it was my 2nd visit to IMH today already, and I am liking the environment there more and more! Yes, it's actually very nice and half resort-like half neighborhood estate-type. And it's all supposedly part of the plan to lower the stigma people have about 'Woodbridge Hospital'.

Not everybody who goes there are 'mad'. They are just mentally unwell for the moment and need appropriate care from specialists to speed up their recovery and return to our normative society. Besides, some who are there are not even mentally unwell, but other various illnesses.

It's not easy convincing people to stop looking at mentally unwell patients in a different light. When you suffer from a bout of common flu, people generally stay clear so as not to get the flu bug, but they are generally sympathetic, and will ask you to go see a doctor. But when you are mentally unwell, people not only typically steer clear of you, but the shunning increases when you try to go see a doctor about it.

When you can't convince a deeply rooted belief about mentally ill patients being 'siao' and 'untouchable', you change the environment they live in! And that is what I believe IMH is taking the first step towards - de-institutionalizing the place to make it seem less like a gloomy dreary hospital, but a normal place open to all to stroll in and out of any other day! =) Yay! I love the way they try so hard to help all their patients and take care of every minute detail that will put them at unease. At least that was from what I gather, and I hope I am right! =)

*

Yay! Chalet is cominggggggggggg!! =D