Three years ago, Ms Alyssa Reinoso, 29, went from newlywed to widow in four months.

Long before they began dating in 2014, her husband Tyler Hung had been struggling with bipolar disorder. He alternated between depressive episodes and extreme highs, when he was sociable and the life of the party. In 2015, a close friend with the same disorder took his life, compounding Mr Hung’s intense lows.

She remembers Mr Hung, an entrepreneur who founded an education consultancy firm, as intelligent and charming. But on bad days, he battled suicidal thoughts and mood swings. Fearing judgment, he did not tell family and close friends about his condition.

After the illness got the better of him in October 2017 – he ended his life then – she eventually started talking to others who had lost loved ones, or were struggling with mental health issues and it helped her healing process.

This year, she went a step further by teaming up with Ms Sabrina Ooi, 29, and Mr Luqman Mohamed, 31, to launch Calm Collective, a community that promotes mental wellbeing through webinars and online content. The trio want to emphasise the importance of good mental health and help more people cope with their issues.

Since its launch in April, they have organised about 20 free webinars, covering topics such as how social media affects mental health.

Speakers include mental health professionals and well-known personalities such as musicians Narelle and Benjamin Kheng, who talked about mental well-being.

Through these discussions, they want to spark conversations about mental health and remove judgment about mental illness being a character flaw or hiring barrier.

Although Mr Hung’s secret is now out in the open, Ms Reinoso believes he would see the good in it.

She says: “I never want his death to be in vain, so if his story can help someone else, at least something positive can come out of it.”

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Source: The Straits Times, 29 August 2020