Mental Health Meter

Sep 20, 2014 Letters

DEAR EDITOR,
Kindly guide me in the right direction regarding finding an answer to this puzzling question? Recently during careful perusal of the Kaieteur News I came across a job advertisement for security guards. My interest peaked to its humanly contained maximum on seeing one of the application requirement(s) – must be mentally fit. I was torn between a chuckle, an enigmatic smile and growing concern. I certainly needed to know more and lots more too.
So many questions began swirling though my already overloaded cranium. Was this the new face of job requirement in Guyana? Has the currently existing state of affairs in Guyana left certain members of the population with dubious mental status? Or were prospective employers ensuring that the ideal candidate was mentally stable enough to withstand the rigours of the job without resorting to any measure that would cause his mental fitness to be either displayed or challenged?
Then up came, as if on cue, the lurking crème de la crème of questions – How does one assess or prove their mental fitness? Assessing our mental health is not as simple to do as measuring our physical health. There are no scales or endurance tests that rate mental fitness. Ask anyone what they fear most about getting older and most people will say, “loss of mental faculties”— or in the vernacular, people are afraid of “losing it”.
Mental Fitness is a proactive, positive term without the negative connotations associated with mental health or mental illness. Whilst the term Mental Fitness is being increasingly used by psychologists, mental health practitioners, schools, organizations and the general population, there is confusion as to what it is (and isn’t). To date there is increasing but inconsistent use of the term mental fitness in the popular and psychological literature, suggesting there is conceptual and empirical confusion, and no theoretically grounded reliable measure of mental fitness. Consequently, there is no standardized measurement to research, replicate or for practitioners to apply. This being said, pray tell me what measures are being used in Guyana to assess one’s mental fitness?
Basically put or simply stated “mental fitness is a state of emotional and psychological well-being in which an individual is able to use his or her cognitive and emotional capabilities, function in society, and meet the ordinary demands of everyday life”.
Every living and breathing individual in Guyana, regardless of status, is aware that these qualities must be present if his/her survival is to be assured. Once they get up in the morning they need mental fitness to be able to cope with the many downs in Guyana that daily surround them.
In the hurried pace of the world in which they live, most Guyanese are aware that maintaining a balanced life is difficult at times, but important for sustaining good health. In addition, perceptions about health are changing. The World Health Organization now defines health as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being,” not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” Within this context, fostering our mental health every day – not just when we are feeling pressured or unwell – is an important factor in our overall well-being.
With this being said, no need to have this as a job requirement, but instead let us work towards ensuring that mental fitness is a goal towards which every Guyanese should strive, taking into account the current status quo. Mental health is essential to physical health, personal well-being, and positive family and interpersonal relationships.
Mental fitness enables people to experience life as meaningful and to be creative, productive members of society. There is a clear call for new or revised measures of ascertaining mental fitness. Let it not just stand as an employment requirement. Hopefully, within these measures once instituted may lie the causal factor of what ails Guyana.
Yvonne Sam

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