Overcoming the depths of depression

Overcoming the depths of depression

Mental health social worker Saitong Sittieansak hopes people can learn from her own past psychiatric problems

SOCIAL & LIFESTYLE

Not in her wildest dreams did Saitong Sittieansak, a volunteer mental health social worker in Nonthaburi’s Khlong Phra Udom Pak Kret community, see herself suffering the same emotional traumas as the very people she has helped through the years.

Mental health social worker Saitong Sittieansak, who has experienced psychiatric problems herself.

But three years ago, she suffered a bout of depression that led to two suicide attempts. Friends, fellow social workers and nurses at Srithanya Hospital, with whom she had worked alongside for a decade, were stunned it could have happened to someone like her.

She is now fully recovered and uses her own experiences to encourage people to monitor their emotional health more closely and seek professional help when required. 

“In a depressive state, I was left helpless and lost," said Saitong. “As a mental health social worker, I was taught to help, assess, treat and prevent psychological, emotional and also environmental problems influencing individuals negatively. None of this helped when it came to me.

“I was so immersed in my personal problems and being there for everyone that I forgot to look after myself. It was like everything I had ever learned about depression and mental disorders was wiped out of my memory bank. None of my friends and neighbours realised that I was suffering from depression because in front of them I was my usual self, but behind closed doors I cried like a baby."

Saitong’s ordeal has made her more sensitive towards the emotional needs of people who might not show outward symptoms of mental disorder, but suffer in silence. One way she helps such individuals open up to her is by first befriending them. In one such case, she was able to counsel a woman who tried to twice commit suicide by drowning herself.

“Besides being reserved, there was little indication that the woman was depressed," began Saitong.

“It was when I shared my own encounter with depression that she opened up, sharing her inner most worries of losing her husband to a younger woman. The more she entertained the thought, the deeper she fell into depression. I directed her to seek psychiatric help, and the last I heard was that she is on the road to recovery."

Saitong decided to devote her life to volunteer work after she was diagnosed with breast cancer a decade ago. It was a year after the Srithanya Hospital medical team had began their monthly visits to her community. She realised how positive reinforcement and support from family and friends had helped her fight the deadly disease.

While this was one of the lowest moments in her life, when she could have contemplated suicide, her feisty personality got her through it. When she did succumb to mental health problems, it was over something that was anything but life-threatening.

An emotional Saitong said: “I was assistant community leader of Khlong Phra Udom at the time, and due to internal politics, I was forced to resign.

“I was on an emotional roller coaster because I felt no one understood my sincerity and dedication towards my work. At the time, I felt everyone had ganged up against me. I felt let down and my mental health began to deteriorate. I used to cry behind closed doors and became depressed.

“Simultaneously, I was also experiencing family problems which just made the situation worse. For two weeks, I contemplated suicide. On the day I had planned to resign, I drove my motorcycle aimlessly, and had reached Kampangsan, which was not the route I wanted to take. Then I saw a 10-wheeler truck. A thought ran through my mind, telling me to stop my motorcycle in front of the speeding vehicle. I had closed my eyes when the driver honked a couple of times, and that jolted me back to my senses."

Friends managed to bring Saitong home safely, not knowing that in the next two days she would attempt to take her life again. This time she overdosed on sleeping pills. Saitong was lucky to be found in time by neighbours and rushed to hospital. While getting her stomach pumped, she heard a doctor say: “Why is she trying to take her life? She is not just old but also has cancer. She will eventually die." Despite the unpleasant nature of the doctor’s comments, his words pushed her to seek professional help. Saitong has now learned not to let obstacles in life get the better of her. She now gives herself quality time by penning her thoughts in a diary and by reading motivational books.

Saitong, who is in her 50s, began volunteering with Srithanya Hospital 11 years ago, when a group of nurses and social workers from the psychiatric medical centre visited her community to offer mental health check-ups and counselling. The team was led by social worker Hatairat Warin, who, come rain or shine, brought her team to help patients in the community. During floods, they even came on wooden boats to deliver medical supplies and check on patients who required an ambulance to send them to hospital.

So impressed was she with the team’s dedication that she decided to become a volunteer mental health social worker herself. Saitong, whose husband is blind, attended a number of workshops, training sessions and courses to prepare for her work. She also works with 115 physically challenged residents in her community.

In 2008, she began heading the “Pearn-Rak-Pra Dom" club, which was initiated by Srithanya Hospital medical team and the Khlong Pra Udom community to foster better understanding between mental health patients and their relatives and neighbours. Saitong believes people with mental disorders are still stigmatised in Thai society, and so hopes to erase misconceptions through workshops and group activities that the club arranges. Such has been the group’s impact that neighbouring communities have also asked for their help.

On one occasion, Saitong was alerted to the case of a woman suffering from severe depression and hallucinations, who had tried to commit suicide. After obtaining preliminary information on the woman, she alerted Srithanya Hospital to send an ambulance to pick her up. In most cases, parents and relatives are unaware that their family member requires psychiatric help. By the time help arrives, it may already be too late.

Her devotion has earned her many admirers within the community. In the last decade, Saitong has won the “Best Volunteer for Public Health in the Province”, “Best Leadership in Community Services” and “Best Volunteer for the Physically Challenged” awards, to name just a few.

Social workers from Srithanya Hospital accompany Saitong to visit families.

The Pearn-Rak-Pra Dom community has a mental health outreach programme where members oversee each other’s well-being.

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