The support group I didn't know I needed

The writer connected with a bunch of strangers and it made her life better.

- Shermaine Ang

There is no other way to put it we were a ragtag bunch. After all, what do you get when you bring together two middle-aged mums, one dad, two younger techies, a designer and a journalist?

Probably a row of people sitting next to one another on the MRT train on the way to work.

Instead, this group came to The Mind Cafe in Prinsep Street every week to chat. And not just about anything, but well-being skills, and how we can put them into practice in our lives.

In other words, the one thing all seven of us had in common was our wish to cope better with life's difficulties and be happier.

This was one of the well-being circles by social enterprise Happiness Initiative. Being in the circle involves attending eight Saturday morning group discussions on various topics, led by two trained volunteer facilitators.

Well-being circles are not a replacement for therapy, but meant to enable us to bounce back from life adversities, reads the message by Happiness Initiative co-founder Simon Leow in the participant journal we were all given.

I had signed up to kick habits that make me unhappy.

The mindless doomscrolling - excessively scrolling through content that makes one feel negative - tended to be my go-to coping mechanism when I was stressed or sad. I would dwell upon what I was lacking and reproach myself - which stressed me out even more.

Our facilitators at the well-being circle pointed us to American psychologist Martin Seligman's theory that humans are primed to worry to stay alive. We are constantly on the lookout for things that demand our attention, to recognise dangers and think about how to survive them.