MENTAL HEALTH: THE CONTINUED PUSH FOR AWARENESS

As advocates for and proposers of mental health, our concerted efforts and dedication continue to circle around making sure every individual is not only aware of the psychological dimension of their being but also they may have the required mental and psycho-emotional skills to maintain a steadily functional day to day life for the benefit of themselves and their loved ones.

Achieving

In achieving this end, wide strides have been made and even though it could be brighter, the light that shows the message is getting across is flickering. More and more people within our families, communities as well as on a countrywide scale are being more considerate of the forms of counselling and therapy to help them cope with the ‘feral beast’ that life is sometimes. Even many more (people) are actually following through with this consideration and are actually attending therapy sessions and getting help. On a personal level and in my capacity as a mental health enthusiast, this is not only encouraging to see, it also bodes fairly well for the future psychological prognosis of our country as a whole.

Relevant

Unfortunately, while we rave about the positives, it is equally relevant to consider the so-called drawbacks in spreading the ‘mental health word’. In the main, there are still sections of our population that hold the belief that something like therapy ‘is not for them’ and would basically never agree to ‘speaking to a stranger’ about their personal issues. It turns out this is quite a popular opinion because some people feel the whole nature of going for counselling or seeking therapy may be a little too invasive. Of course, every one holds entitlement to whom they choose to share their personal stories with, however, this speaks to the broader perception of what therapy looks like and the work that still needs to be done to deconstruct the false image of what seeking help means and looks like. The appeal in seeking assistance for mental health issues often gets lost in half-cooked opinions that other people may have of it and, as is often the case, these spread quicker than the actual facts. Overtime, this has proven to be a hindrance as many people have opted to make dramatic life decisions instead of seeing a psychologist, while others choose to hide their need for professional mental health attention in fear of being marginalised by their families, for instance.

Professional

Therefore, as already alluded to, there is still a need for a total deconstruction of what exists as mental health and seeking professional psychological help in the minds of people in our society. It is from a change in that, that more and more people can begin to alter their thoughts of what mental health itself constitutes, how it relates to them on a day to day basis as well how they can be actively be involved in monitoring and nurturing their own psychological well-being. The rise to prominence of mental health disorders resulting in suicides over the years are not the only cause for concern from a psychosocial perspective; issues like gender-based violence, violence and some of the inexplicable murders we read about are all tied to the human beings’ psychology, whether as an individual or in groups.

This seems reason enough to fight hard to ensure that our people are well equipped with knowledge about the behaviours and ways of thinking of others as well as of their own. Holistically, this would contribute greatly to the overall wellness of the people in our families and in around our communities, thus breeding more pleasant living environments. Send comments to runsford0505@gmail.com.

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