The mental health issue has been a concern for some time now. Even after getting the intermittent attention it occasionally gets, its grip on our society’s neck continues at an unimaginable rate.
Often, when the issue of mental health is part of the street discourse, it is just in general terms. It is simply minimised to a street corner conversation or TV and radio discussion. This seemingly makes the impression that, since there is talk about it, something is being done about it. However, after all these conversations are done, everyone goes back to their girlfriend, beer, or kapana like nothing happened. Instead of us taking this matter seriously and even making them part of our daily morning devotion, we see it as a trend to ride on for relevance. All of a sudden, everyone is a TikTok mental health guru. This, often, we do with an undertone that undermines and trivialises the gravity of something so complex. We also often do so from the position of superiority with no consideration that every case and episode may have unique circumstances and not be as easy as a Sunday morning.
As much as this may sound pessimistic, it is not meant to undermine the efforts and the progress made towards mental health. Of course, we have tried, but maybe we just have not tried enough. The fact that our efforts seem not to make a dent in effectively addressing this matter may be a sign of complacency in our efforts. It could also be an indication of both emotional and mental exhaustion. It could also be an indication of missed opportunities in not addressing the hanging fruit root cause problems.
Honestly, it will be wild and inconceivable to address the mental health issue without addressing some of the obvious challenges our society faces. One of the blind spots in our efforts is rampant alcoholism that slowly eats away at the fabric of our society. There is no doubt that unexplained excessive alcohol consumption is a symptom of underlying serious social problems. Unless we first acknowledge this fact and take a commitment to address it, we may as well try to empty the ocean with a spoon. Then there is the financial issue, which we seem to only have long speeches about here and there, but no long-term plan for it not to be an inheritance for our future generations. When talking to those who seemed to have put a finger on it, the exclusion of financial literacy from our basic education shall be an inherent curse.
As much as we cannot talk of addressing ill mental health without talking about the lack of effective social support sources, the mother of it all is clearly the evil of individualism. Even though social media seems to blow a vuvuzela on restoring the spirit of ubuntu, it has become just another fashionable trend to talk about without any visible actions and tangible outcomes. The truth is that ill mental health, especially for an African child, will not be addressed without addressing his or her fundamental and existential mishaps. Until he or she reclaims her natural habitat and way of living, to at least assimilate the ways of her forebearers, mental health shall continue to be a curse he or she must eternally deal with.
*Uncommon Sense is published bi-weekly in the New Era with contributions from Karlos Naimwhaka. YouTube channel: Karlos Lokos
– karlsimbumusic@gmail.com