WE are all mental beings, the universe in our skull consists not only of a brain but also of a mind made up of mental processes that allows us to make decision; to remember, plan, set goals and be creative.
“An individual kind set determines their entire life.” According to humanists our perception of the world and ourselves is more important than behaviour.
“Everything we do and say is determined by our mental processes, which makes our mental health very important.”
Many of life’s problems today are psychological, e.g. the inability to cope with stress, violence, racism, anxiety, depression, suicide, etc. It has also been determined that about 90 per cent of sicknesses are psychologically induced.
“Mental Health Literacy in Guyana is given little or no attention.
There’s no public awareness, no development of facilities etc.”
“Our mental health is much more important than it appears.” It baffles me, how come an aspect so important is exceedingly ignored in Guyana?
Foreign countries such as the United States of America are investing in ‘Psychology’ not only because it provides employment but also because they’re aware of the benefits it provides for societies, they conduct various systematic psychological researches on humans as well as animals to determine cause and effects, to provide tested medication for the multiple psychological disorders occurring daily in the world, and to provide therapies, which are practical solutions for psychological issues; which most Guyanese are unaware of, look at the schools what do you gather from the children’s behaviour? What does it say about their parents? Yes, there is need for behavioural changes, but the authorities seem oblivious of how to begin this task.
Parents who practice domestic violence “obviously don’t know how they are affecting their children’s mental health or they just don’t care;” children who have been exposed to violence are likely to become violent at some point.
Behaviour is learnt; therefore it is not permanent but can be changed. Look around the streets, why are those people there and are all categorised as mad people?
If those people had been aware of what was happening to them and got treatment and therapy, would they have been there?
Some of them had respective jobs, high levels of education, they were teachers, etc, but are now ‘wandering souls of hopelessness’ in this country because they encountered a situation that affected them mentally and it was not dealt with.
It seems as though they are becoming one of Guyana’s byproduct created by lack of knowledge.
The number of them just keeps on multiplying, they’re roaming the streets and people don’t even recognise the danger or what they might be capable of doing!
Why wait until people get sick to treat them when you can prevent the sickness? There is no information given to the public on the existence of psychological problems in Guyana by the media or by people in authority, not even by the Minister of Health, they teach no smoking but fail to see why people are still drawn to it, there is a great need for psychologists in this country everything people do is because of there mental conditions, whether they are killing or making peace.
Let’s face it, we all encounter behavioural maladjustments at some point of time whether it be a struggle with anger, trauma, fears, additions to pornography, alcohol, drugs, etc, or serious mental disorders such as Schizophrenia, Post traumatic stress disorder, etc, when these abnormalities are ignored, they are left to further develop e.g. murder due to the lack of anger management, etc.
The public should be aware of mental illnesses!
There should be public awareness of these issues, to provide knowledge on the dangers of psychological illnesses, causations and effects, treatments and therapies.
There is also a need for proper mental facilities, with adequate staff, to avoid tragedies with psychiatric patients like the previous in Fort Canje Berbice, also psychological clinics, outreach programmes, and open conferences addressing various mental problems by people in authority, etc.
“Prevention is better than cure.”
It’s better to have a lot of psychiatrists and psychologists than a lot of psychotic people!