By Jeune Bailey Van Keric
PUBLIC Health Physician, Dr Colleen Bovell- Whitney’s love affair with mental health commenced, oddly, with expressions of gratitude from a mother, who had just lost her daughter to suicide.

It was during 2016 when the medical practitioner was on duty at the New Amsterdam Regional Hospital, where a female was hospitalised, after ingesting a poisonous liquid.
“I had realised that persons were not giving enough attention to mental health. I observed too that persons with chronic diseases on medical wards would also have associated mental health issues but it would be overlooked. So after the young lady was discharged, her mother came looking for me. Initially, I was scared, as I wondered what I may have done wrong. But there was a measure of relief after she said, ‘My daughter died. But, you are the only doctor who treated my daughter with dignity. If it was not for your words, I would have ended my life after we left the hospital’. That’s where my journey with mental health started,” said Dr Bovell- Whitney as she beamed with pride while seated in her black padded office chair at the National Psychiatric Hospital, where she has an office.

Dr Bovell, as she is familiarly known, confessed that she is able to empathise, and express words of advice, as she too battled with suicidal thoughts.
“I had my own experience… had suicidal thoughts around age 10, because of growing up in poverty.… I have always asked myself why… so it’s important that mothers teach their children good coping skills and stress management, more so, in this COVID-19 pandemic, as children do suffer from mental illness,” said the doctor who incidentally is the eldest of six children.
She advised that, during the pandemic, there is a need for routine to help develop good coping skills.

“Maintain sleep patterns. Do not allow the child to sleep all day and then wake up to watch television late into the night. Eating schedules must be maintained. Children must be allowed to do some school work daily,” she said.

Further, the mental health practitioner warned parents to be careful of social media as the content cannot be controlled but ought to be managed to avoid children being exposed to negative information.

Additionally, parents are encouraged to have daily conversations with their minors, instead of assuming that they know what to do, especially if they are away from home.
Born in New Amsterdam, Bovell’s education started at the St Mary’s Nursery. From there, she attended St Therese’s Primary, then President’s College before enrolling at the Latin American School of Medicine (Cuba), University of the West Indies (Barbados) and Braun School of Public Health and Community Medicine (Israel), where she completed her Masters of Public Health.

Meanwhile, the married mother of three, continues to advocate for mental health, but is currently promoting telemedicine policy, to complement existing consultation.
Telemedicine is now evolving locally. It is defined as the use of technology (phones, video, computers messages) by a medical professional to diagnose and treat patients in a remote area.
According to Dr Bovell- Whitney, the new health software is for follow up visits, for patients and their care givers. It is not only efficient but reduces missed appointments and improves patient outcomes.