By Dr Geoffrey Wango
The human mind is quite complex though intricate. We tend to come to grips with its delicate balance in times of distress or illness, especially mental health. This is chiefly because the human mind has its vast miseries depicted in the functionalities of diverse capabilities evident in our vast expansive scientific and technological advancement.
Mental health refers to a person’s condition with regard to their psychological, emotional, cognitive and behavioural well-being. Mental illness refers to a wide range of mental health conditions that affects a person’s function in activities of daily living. Activities of daily living include feeding, clothing, washing, toilet as well as simple mental activities such as time, day of the week and positioning. In ordinary language mental health is the absence of mental illness.
Mental health and wellbeing requires us to look into ourselves and search a little deeper. This in turn will open our understanding to the reality of mental health – that it is an illness that requires treatment. It is estimated that one in four people suffer from mental illness. A major concern for parents and psychologists is the fact that over half of mental health problems develop in childhood and adolescence attributed to childhood unfavourable conditions, at home, school or in the general environment. The statistics are estimated to be higher and varied across countries and communities, for example, nearly one in five American adults are said to be living with a mental illness. This is a significant portion of our population. Experts argue that over a half of the people who suffer from a mental health conditions tend to have a secondary medical diagnosis, and this makes it even more important to treat the whole person. Yet millions of people with a mental health illness go untreated especially in the low income countries of the developing world.
| Mental Health (1) Mental health issues affect 1:4 people across the lifespan. (2) 50 -75% of mental health problems develop before 18 years. (3) 1 in 10 young people are affected by depression, anxiety or conduct problems. This leads to alcohol and drug abuse, self injurious behaviours, truancy and suicide and other deviant tendencies. (4) There is a threefold increase in teenagers reporting self harm in the last decade. In addition, suicide is the second leading cause of death for young people. (5) It is acceptable among scholars that there is a high prevalence of anxiety and depression among all countries. |
Mental health and wellbeing attributes (both positive and negative) and the stereotypes that people have about metal health conditions tends to greatly dim our understanding of the human mind. This is why people tend to be secretive and impatient with persons suffering from mental illness.
The major impediment to treatment of mental illness is the lack of (adequate) knowledge and understanding of it. This leads to stigma, discrimination and a lot of stereotyping that persons suffering from mental illness may be possessed by demons, evil spirits or spiritual attacks. This is why many families tend to turn to religion as an immediate intervention rather than seek appropriate mental attention and care. This arises chiefly from long held traditional beliefs that mental illness is a curse or an act of the gods.
Clearly, the traditional and religious convictions were based on lack of inadequate information and hence we cannot continue with such predispositions particularly in the more traditional societies. Therefore, we need to bring about enhanced understanding of mental illness, and hence a greater care to assist persons suffering from it. This includes ways to go about activities of daily living with reduced stress and distress in order to manage our lives more amicably.
| Families and individuals must not shy away from mental illness and other related conditions such as stress, depression and anxiety disorders. Instead, we must seek treatment in good time, and continue to seek assistance when in need. Society must not ostracize persons suffering from mental illness, instead, we must embrace them and assist them manage life and life challenges more amicably. All of us must learn ways to cope with stressful life situations, even when circumstances are difficult including seeking counselling and other social services such as prayers and support from family, relatives and friends. |
The way forward is to reduce our risk of mental illness by dealing with stressful situations and ensuring an improved medical scheme. Additionally, mental illness must not be personalized; instead, families and individuals must seek medical assistance when in need. Also, we must strengthen our support systems including family and friends to enhance a sense of belonging and promote on self-esteem.
Dr Wango is Counselling Psychologist, Psychology Department, University of Nairobi
Email: gwango@uonbi.ac.ke
