'You might end up becoming a patient': Mental healthcare professionals share their stigma stories
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When Dr Lee Cheng first started out, he wanted to major in psychiatry but was met with great scepticism from his family. Lee, who was trained as a medical doctor, recalled his family questioning him then: «There are so many fields of medicine, w'You might end up becoming a patient': Mental healthcare professionals share their stigma stories
When Dr Lee Cheng first started out, he wanted to major in psychiatry but was met with great scepticism from his family. Lee, who was trained as a medical doctor, recalled his family questioning him then: «There are so many fields of medicine, why do you want to choose psychiatry?» Despite the naysayers, Lee persisted because of his interest in the field. Some 30 years on, Dr Lee today is the clinical director for the office of population health at the Institute of Mental Health (IMH). Working in this field, and in a public hospital have given him the chance to create policy change. «I think the satisfaction comes from knowing that I can help to change the mental health care in the future,» he said. However, the stigma against healthcare practitioners is ever present. For example, some of his patients, he shared with AsiaOne, refuse to acknowledge him in public.