Depression: The Misunderstood Illness

Publisher: Armour Publishing Pte Ltd
Call No.: SING 616.8527 LIM
Available at NLB Libraries

Depression is an illness which will strike at least 5% of Singaporeans throughout their life span and afflicts more than 10% of the world’s population. Undetected and misunderstood by society, depression at its worst may result in premature loss of valuable life. As such early detection, psychiatric treatment and continuous proper maintenance is vital to ensure gradual recovery and prevent any further recurrence.

It is common for people from all walks of life to suffer from depression, especially when we are pressed by a fast paced lifestyle. Even famous world figures such as Ernest Hemingway, Leo Tolstoy, Abraham Lincoln and Winston Churchill suffered from depression during their successful careers. How did Lincoln managed to pull through whereas Hemingway ended his life with a bullet in his head?

Looking into research and statistical findings based on age group, marital status, race, gender, socioeconomic status, the author analyses various causes of depression. We see how the multifaceted nature of the illness results in differing impacts on the patient. Needless to say, depression affects one’s thoughts, outlook, behaviours, and inevitably impacts one’s future. Thus, different treatments and approaches are needed for caregivers, family members and self.

This book was written with a local perspective, as opposed to readings from the West, which may not fully address our local needs. Dr Lim assures us that there is light at the end of the tunnel for depression-stricken individuals.

By Herman Rothman, National Library Board

You can check the availability of these titles via our online catalogue at http://www.nlb.gov.sg

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We all carry the baggage of prejudicial opinions and biases. What we may not always realize is how these ideas and opinions limit our own potential and ability to arrive a fuller, more correct understanding of ourselves and others. The list of such commonly held notions are many and varied, and cut across race and language:

? Are the Chinese ‘more prudent and kiasu’?
? Would a non-Chinese speaker be perceived as a Chinese?
? Does ‘every government rewrite the past to suit the needs of the present’?
? Should Singapore artist ‘see beyond his clan and race’ thereby ‘seeking pure form and objectivity in art through intelligent perception’?

These questions, amongst many other provocative ones, are raised in ‘Fistful of Colours’ where the writer explores the dilemmas, insecurities and struggles for greater understanding, seen through the eyes of the protagonist, Suwen and her peers, amid a changing socio-political landscape.

Suwen’s quest as an artist is to seek suitable words and pictures, to portray her own definition of art. To do this, she delves into the history of her family and those of her peers. The reader takes a nostalgic journey through Singapore’s past, from the early days when the harbour was brimming with coolies, and Jinricksha Station (now Chinatown) was a thriving rickshaw station under the colonial rule, to our fledging independence marred by racial riots.

The novel, like an opened Pandora’s box, invites the readers to contemplate contentious issues like inter- and intra-racial discrimination, the impact of the government’s policy of social engineering, and the ramifications of the growing predominance of the New Asians who are ‘Chinese and yet not Chinese; Indian and yet not Indian’.

By Justin Siew, National Library Board