SINGAPORE – Throughout his life, Dr George Khoo felt enveloped by an aura of melancholy that was occasionally punctuated by intense sadness.
Until he sought help about a decade ago, it never occurred to him that he might have a mental illness.
“When he was in his 30s, I thought he was having an early midlife crisis,” said his wife Mabel, 68. “I even bought him a Christian book on men in midlife.”
Dr Khoo, 65, a family physician, chimed in: “I also thought I was having an early midlife crisis!”
In 2014, there were many changes in his life, and his mood deteriorated.
His son and his daughter each got engaged, and his daughter began preparing for her wedding. Though it should have been a happy event, Dr Khoo began to grieve.
“We are a close-knit family, and we were about to lose her,” he said, recalling how he had to steel himself for their home life to change.
Both his children were married in 2015.
Despite his taking Wednesday afternoons off work and exercising regularly, these self-care activities proved insufficient.
Then he enrolled in a graduate diploma course in mental health to gain a better understanding of mental health conditions to aid him in his work as a medical adviser to a Christian organisation.
“I didn’t really have a lot of exposure to it (mental health), so much so that I honestly didn’t know I was going through clinical depression, even as a doctor,” he said.
Dr George Khoo was 54 when he was diagnosed with depression in late 2014.
ST PHOTO: DESMOND FOO
Still, it took a few more months before he decided to seek help – and even then, he did it for the sake of his wife and children. He felt that it was not fair to see them suffer.
Dr Khoo was 54 when he was diagnosed with depression in late 2014.
Throughout that year, attending other weddings only deepened his sadness as he anticipated his daughter’s departure from home. “With each wedding I attended, I found myself getting more and more sad,” he said.
In addition, he faced some challenges at his church, where he held a leadership position.
“Someone actually told me to my face, ‘I don’t think you should be a church leader. I think you should just step down, or I’d pray for you to step down’. So it kind of all happened at the same time,” said Dr Khoo.
