SINGAPORE – Saphira was diagnosed with schizophrenia at the age of 16 after experiencing confusion, delusions and hallucinations. During these episodes, she heard disturbing voices in her head that sounded like “the devil (was) talking to her”.
Painting in art therapy sessions held by the Singapore Association for Mental Health (SAMH) helps calm her nerves – as do counselling sessions.
Now 28, Saphira (not her real name), who dropped out of her polytechnic course in veterinary technology, sees painting as a way of keeping herself occupied and earning some money when her pieces are sold.
“It makes me feel quite zen. When I concentrate on making art, I feel calmer and feel a sense of achievement,” she said.
Saphira was speaking to The Straits Times at the opening of a new SAMH centre providing integrated mental wellness services.
Called SAMH Space2Connect, the centre, which occupies one storey at Block 1 Maude Road in Jalan Besar, was officially opened by President Halimah Yacob on Wednesday.
She is the patron of SAMH, which marks its 55th anniversary this year.
Senior Minister of State for Health Janil Puthucheary and Ms Denise Phua, an MP for Jalan Besar GRC, also attended the event.
The 665 sq m centre houses the SAMH Creative Hub and the SAMH Mobile Support Team COMIT. The Creative Hub offers visual arts, writing, music and dance programmes for members of the public aged 10 and above, while COMIT visits clients aged 18 and older at their homes to provide mental health services.
The centre is open to SAMH clients, their caregivers and the public.
The facility is also open for use by the other SAMH service centres in nine locations for their rehabilitative work for individuals, and serves as an event space for partners working with SAMH to promote community mental health.
Since moving into the new centre in April, SAMH has worked with various organisations on music, body confidence and guided autobiography workshops. They include music group Teng Ensemble, vegan bakery Clean Addicts, and Age Matters Consultancy and Training.
An exhibition at the centre showcases works of art by 19 SAMH clients, aged 16 to 75, who are recovering from schizophrenia.
Titled Between Worlds, the exhibition aims to give an insight into their experiences and to destigmatise the condition.
In an immersive room set up for the opening, visitors can get an inkling of the “voices” heard by people with schizophrenia as they view art pieces.
One of the artists is Mr Tan Choon Heng, a 60-year-old retiree whose schizophrenia was diagnosed when he was 27.
He said that creating art has helped him reduce hand tremors, a side effect of his medication, resulting in fewer doctor visits.
“I like pointilism,” he said in Mandarin, referring to a painting technique in which dots of colour are applied in patterns to form an image. “It helps me to improve my focus and lifts my mood.”
His painting of a pair of birds perched on a tree branch reflects his longing for a partner in life, he said.
Besides painting, he attends karaoke and cooking sessions at SAMH Oasis Day Centre in Potong Pasir as part of a psychiatric rehabilitation programme for people recovering from mental illness.
“I enjoy interacting with participants from different backgrounds and becoming friends with them,” he said.
Adjunct Associate Professor Lee Cheng, president of SAMH, said the new centre enables a more seamless delivery of services.
Nestled in the Housing Board estate in Maude Road, its location makes its services more accessible to residents there, as well as to the larger community, he added.
Speaking on social service agencies providing mental health support, Madam Halimah said in a post on Facebook: “With their proximity to homes, those who need help will be able to do so in a familiar setting, encouraging help-seeking behaviours and reducing stigma associated with mental health conditions.”
