On October 10, World Mental Health Day 2022 was celebrated, with the theme: “Make mental health and well-being a global priority.” Wellness centres and companies globally touted the necessity of how important it is to stay “mentally fit” and the effective ways to do this.
All such hype, advertisements, slogans and messages gave me flashbacks of my own years of struggle when I was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD).
And frankly, no matter how much energy I have invested in staying “mentally fit” and mustering up the courage to function as a “normal human being” who was “fit for society,” I have not succeeded in my attempts (not even partially).
I still see and encounter the stigma and negligence surrounding mental health issues that have existed from time immemorial.
Trauma, bad memories, and destructive and obsessive thought patterns can alter the narrative of our life. We find it painstakingly difficult to accept it -- or prefer to live in denial.
My traumatic experience and diagnosis have changed my life forever and it took me years to accept my condition.
For years and very unfortunately, mental health issues have been overlooked and, in some cases, mocked in our society.
So, how can we heal any wound if we do not acknowledge its existence in the first place?
Worrying numbers
A report published by Dhaka Tribune shows that “45 students committed suicide per month in 2022” and an astounding situational assessment conducted by World Health Organization (WHO) for Bangladesh presents that Bangladesh has an estimated 260 psychiatrists and 565 psychologists per 100,000 people.
For a country of a reported 162 million people, this meagre number of mental health professionals offers an extremely bleak picture.
According to another report published in another leading daily of our country, approximately 14,436 suicides occurred in Bangladesh between March 2020 and February 2021. And sadly, yet another research study asserts: “The prevalence of depression, stress, and anxiety symptoms in the adult population is now much higher than pre-pandemic rates.”
With that said, we need to accept that mental health is more than just what occupies our heads.
Our psychological state is shaped by our personal history (regarding our trauma and stress), our financial status, our chosen behaviours and moral values, and the people that we surround ourselves with.
The spectrum of mental health is much broader and more complex than we can imagine and the scarcity of mental health facilities and experts only adds to the despair of psychiatric patients -- especially for disadvantaged and marginalized groups.
As a student, whenever I heard the definition of “good health” in the classroom, emphasis was always given to physical health and well-being. Rarely, the topic of mental health was mentioned. The words “mental and social well-being” have also only recently been added to the definition of health as stated by WHO.
It is the children and adolescents who have had to tolerate a high level of stress and anxiety and the Covid-19 pandemic has amplified the complications of mental disorders among children. According to a Unicef report published in 2021, approximately one in seven adolescents between the ages of 10 and 19 is living with a mental health disorder -- this report is both heart-breaking and worrying, and indicates that a grim future awaits future generations.
The topic of mental health cannot and should not be dismissed as a trivial matter. Distinctive individual lifestyle factors -- health behaviours, exercise, cognitive capacity, mindset, and even spirituality -- all of these features contribute to crafting a complex web that consequently forms a person’s mental health status.
And the issues surrounding climate change and the global injustices that continue to be perpetuated around the globe, such as the recent death of Mahsa Amini and the Russia-Ukraine war, have left me feeling frightened and uncertain. Given the current scenario of our world, now is a valid time to ask: What is the future of our world and the upcoming generations?
A study titled “The current state of mental healthcare in Bangladesh: Part 1 -- an updated country profile” states that “the limited knowledge about mental health in Bangladesh contributes to a lack of sufficient care programs, thereby neglecting the mental health needs of the population.”
Therefore, our goal should be to first create awareness about mental health disorders and eliminate the societal stigma surrounding mental illnesses that hinders people to seek help and treatment.
Educators should take the responsibility to empower students with basic knowledge about mental health issues and illness. And at a macro level, the government and media should come forward to advocate for mental health and well-being and break the barriers that prohibit psychiatric patients from asking for help and care.
To create a culture of openness and compassion and spread awareness about mental health and well-being, a roundtable discussion was held on October 11, 2022, titled “Positive Pathways of Mental Health and Wellbeing for the SMART Bangladesh 2041.” Here, a Mental Health 101 course by a2i’s MuktoPaath platform and their “Mental Health Campaign” were launched.
I had the privilege to attend the discussion and launching of the campaign and as an individual who has endured the emotional scars and gone through pangs of mental illness, I believe many people will benefit from such an initiative. We need more of this in our country.
We need to remember that mental health issues are not simply just a cluster of unwanted, painful thoughts and self-deprecating behaviours. It can radically harm the quality of our life and our loved ones. May we keep this knowledge in our hearts that mental health matters.
Ayman Anika works at the Dhaka Tribune.