Young and troubled
Are we causing or contributing to others' mental illness ? ----- By Eveline Gan, TODAY | Posted: 04 January 2011 SINGAPORE - At 30, acclaimed American poet Sylvia Plath , who suffered from depression, killed herself by placing her head in the oven, with the gas turned on. Her sensational suicide is well-known in the literary circle. However, most may not know that Plath's mental illness started even before she reached adulthood. She had, in fact, attempted suicide earlier in her teens. Plath's early, long-drawn struggle with depression is not unusual. Mental disorders is one of the pressing global health issues among youths today. According to Clinical Associate Professor Chong Siow Ann, senior consultant psychiatrist and vice-chairman of research at the Institute of Mental Health (IMH), most mental disorders such as depression and psychosis have their beginnings during adolescence. "However, the tragedy is that such mental disorders are often...