Vibe Check: Mental Health in the Startup World is a Tech in Asia podcast where writer and editor Winston Zhang speaks to startup leaders and mental health professionals to see what he can learn from them when it comes to managing his mental well-being.
The route to mental well-being begins with self awareness and acceptance, but that’s much easier said than done. In a world that has treated the topic as taboo for most of its history, it’s much more likely for people to conceal their mental health struggles. Instead of dealing with it properly, they put on a brave face and just try to soldier through.
It’s not a long-term solution – and particularly so if you have a diagnosed mental health condition. Just ask Sabrina Ooi, CEO and co-founder of Calm Collective Asia, an organization that aims to normalize mental health conversations in Asia.
In this episode of Vibe Check: Mental Health in the Startup World, Ooi shares how her struggles with bipolar disorder brought her to the edge of oblivion before a full reset put her life back on track.
Timecodes:
00:00 – Trigger warning: Discussions on suicidal ideation and attempts
00:09 – Intro music
00:35 – Hi, I’m Winston
01:27 – Welcome to Vibe Check
02:02 – Meet Calm Collective Asia CEO and co-founder Sabrina Ooi
03:45 – The birth of Calm Collective Asia
05:45 – Sabrina’s experience with bipolar disorder
08:27 – When Sabrina realized she had to seek help
10:39 – Thoughts at the top of a 20-storey building
12:08 – Another suicide attempt
13:52 – How Sabrina began to rebuild her life
15:42 – Seeing a therapist
16:44 – Getting into a beginner’s mindset
18:52 – The difficulties of trying to reconnect with others
20:43 – Easing back into the working world
22:14 – Opening up about her mental health condition
25:24 – Facing new challenges as an entrepreneur
26:28 – Setting up a culture of mental wellness
27:49 – Life lessons Sabrina picked up on her mental health journey
29:50 – Episode three teaser: How PraisePal’s Zelia Leong dealt with the mental burden of being a startup founder
Featured interviewee
- Sabrina Ooi, CEO and co-founder at Calm Collective Asia
Host
- Winston Zhang, writer and editor at Tech in Asia Studios
Episode Transcript:
Winston Zhang (VO):
Before we get started, I just want to put a trigger warning up top – this episode contains discussions on suicidal ideation and attempts.
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