What did we expect? After removing everything that has fundamentally been our moral compass for years from our curriculum, we are now blaming everything else for the mental health crisis, except ourselves.
If we are doing away with something this significant, something equally strong should replace it.
A nation without an inherent moral foundation is doomed to gradually fall into
psychological chaos.
Of course, we are seemingly a secular state, but is this truly our wish, or was it done to appease external actors? Is our sovereignty really intact if external organisations still dictate our health and financial policies?
Have the threats to our prosperity vanished or become more subtle? Does it matter if the standards we aspire to are borrowed or lowered through associations with groups of no common ground? Doesn’t that sound more like pseudo-independence, just as much as we have become willing victims of pseudo-science?
It’s disheartening to see a nation from top to bottom attempting to appear virtuous when addressing the mental health crisis while ignoring what’s right in front of us.
No matter how many social media and mental health experts appear out of nowhere, it is perplexing that no one wants to confront the elephants in the room. The truth is, the mental health crisis cannot be solved with a social media video, a men’s conference, psychotropic drugs, or just solving a word puzzle.
It requires a multidisciplinary approach. We need to ditch the traditional band-aid solutions that may have contributed to our current situation. We require a comprehensive, proactive, and preventative methodology that gradually uproots the roots of social decay.
Additionally, the mental health crisis is more political than psychological because our political stance influences every other part of our national life. Without a clear political strategy and commitment, efforts to combat this crisis will be futile. Having political leaders share their personal experiences with mental health is not enough; we need transformative policies that broadly improve our citizens’ psychological well-being.
It demands political will to reform our health and education systems to be more psychologically attentive and compassionate. Ultimately, without political awareness and the proper allocation of resources and focus, disaster is inevitable.
What are we waiting for when we have yet to recognise that mental health’s physical aspect is equally important? There’s no doubt that a nation’s physical health impacts its mental health. A nation committed to and promoting physical fitness develops its people’s mental resilience, creating a citizenry able to withstand tough times. As they say, a weak mind cannot dwell in a strong body. Finally, to truly address the mental health crisis, we must confront the three elephants in the room: alcohol abuse, “Nyash” obsession, and an unrestrained pursuit of pleasure.
These three are the biggest distractive and destructive threats our society has ever faced. Yet, we turn a blind eye, hoping our psychosocial problems will disappear magically. If we want real change, these issues must be addressed seriously. Otherwise, in the words of Mr. Trump, “Namibia, you are fired!”
*Uncommon Sense is published in the New Era with contributions from Karlos Naimwhaka. YouTube channel: Karlos Lokos
– karlsimbumusic@gmail.com