SINGAPOREAN WOMAN WANTS DIVORCE AFTER SON’S GRADES PLUNGE

SINGAPORE - A woman wants to divorce her husband after her son's grades started slipping. Believing her son could be depressed, she brought him to see psychiatrist Dr Hong from the Adam Road Medical Centre.
According to Dr Hong, the woman also felt that her husband is a "negative influence" on their son, and wanted to divorce her husband. The woman was very unhappy that her husband often brought their son for outings and she believed that this was affecting her son's studies.

• She even requested that Dr Hong write a letter stating that her husband was a "negative influence" on her son, so that she could divorce him.
• The couple's son is enrolled in an elite secondary school and has always done well enough to be among the top ten in his class.
• Dr Hong refused, as he believed that the woman's husband was bringing their son out to help him relieve stress from the exams.
• He told the mother that she should change the way she perceived the situation, but she did not accept his suggestion.
• Dr Hong says parents who are excessively concerned about their children's studies are often unhappy with some aspect of their own lives, so they choose to put all their attention on their children instead. They are gratified when their children do well in school, according to Dr Hong.

Dr Hong has found that Singaporean parents are getting increasingly worried about their children's studies. According to him, five to ten students come to the medical centre for help on coping with study stress every month. The number doubles during the exam period.
Besides students, parents also suffer from exam stress, said Dr Hong. Such parents exhibit symptoms such as increased tension, nervousness, agitation and accelerated speech.

Source: Agency