Maid asks for help in handling depression but doesn’t want her employer to know because her siblings depend on her financial support to study at the university

A woman asked for help in an online forum for domestic helpers, saying she thinks she has “strong depression.”

She feels like she “really want(s) to give up on everything,” she wrote on the FDW in Singapore (working conditions forum) Facebook page on Oct 7.

The woman wrote that since her parents passed away in 2017, she has been the one supporting her brother and sister “from different country.”

Both of her siblings go to school. 

“Hello All Cinderellas, I just want to ask something how you all handle depression as a helper?” she asked.

She also wrote that she is in Singapore working as a helper, and included a screenshot wherein she had done an online search for the signs of depression.

“I check google and seem to be that i really have depression. I feel exactly the same as what google say. Help me, please, she wrote, asking for advice for recovery from anyone who has “been through depression before.”

She added that she does not want her employer to know because her brother and sister are depending on her for financial support.

“The last thing they have is only me, i still need to support them but i just fell i really want to give up on everything,” she added. 

Many commenters gave her spiritual advice, encouraging her to pray, meditate, go to church and think positively.

Another said her mother would have been so proud of her.

Some told her that talking to her friends to let her feelings out would be helpful.

One urged her to get medical help.

Others gave her even more practical advice.

There are a number of counselling hotlines for anyone suffering from mental health issues such as depression.

/TISG

In Parliament: He Ting Ru says ‘it’s important that our plans to address mental health illnesses are firmly anchored within the primary health care system’