The Straits Time article “Life lessons from having scoliosis” (July 3) illustrated how parents can be role models and encourage their children and teens who have scoliosis by focusing on what can be controlled and what can be done.

Taking charge of what we can do requires us to have the commitment and discipline to go through long hours of wearing the brace and daily exercises. This prevents the curvature of the spine from increasing during the growth spurt and avoiding surgery, if possible.

I was a teenager with scoliosis who went through the process of bracing and surgery in the 1990s. I shared with the parents, young people and adults from Scoliosis Support Singapore that we can apply the concept of learned optimism by Martin Seligman, founder of positive psychology. This concept lets us change our feelings, attitude and behaviours by recognising and challenging our negative self-talk.

Having scoliosis is unpleasant, but we can reframe our negative self-talk from “Why me?” to “What can I do?”

Scoliosis makes us stronger; our spines are bent but not broken. We can be grateful that we are more resilient as we learn to withstand and overcome the challenges of wearing the brace for long hours and undergoing major spinal surgery with rods and hooks embedded in our spines.

By reframing our negative self-talk, we can commit ourselves to going through long hours of bracing and daily exercises.

Learned optimism can be applied when we face adversities in life. When we challenge our negative self-talk by reframing our beliefs, this will lead to positive feelings of appreciation and gratitude and the consequences of being more determined and resilient.

Jasmine Liew Chia Wei