CONSUMER CONCERNS...EDUCATION AS TO CAUSES OF MENTAL DISORDERS - A PUBLIC HEALTH NECESSITY

CONSUMER CONCERNS…EDUCATION AS TO CAUSES OF MENTAL DISORDERS – A PUBLIC HEALTH NECESSITY

Oct 11, 2015 News

by PAT DIAL
Last week, Mental Health Week was commemorated worldwide. It is an annual event aimed at helping the public to understand and appreciate the need to support the mentally ill and work with them to have them reintegrated into society.
One or two consumer bodies in North America have got into the field of helping the mentally ill by running recovery centres where peer support, socialization, education and training are offered. In Guyana, as is the case with the overwhelming numbers of consumer bodies worldwide, the Guyana Consumers Association concentrates on educating the public as to what is mental illness, breaking down prejudices against the mentally ill and trying to have the public and families of the mentally ill play a more constructive role in assisting sufferers.
The term ‘mental illness’ or ‘mental disorder’ covers a wide range of mental conditions such as acute depression where one feels deeply sad all the time resulting in loss of interest and being overcome with inactivity; or obsessions leading to repetitive behaviour; or having attention difficulty; or hyperactivity.
There is also Post traumatic stress where a sufferer feels or experiences a terrifying event impending to assail him; or Autism where a sufferer has an impaired ability to communicate and interact; or even such conditions as alcoholism or the effects of a brain tumor.
In Guyana, though all conditions of mental illness occur, most people tend to associate the term “mental illness” with Schizophrenia where the sufferer interprets reality abnormally. This leads the sufferer to do or say all kinds of things which appear to normal people as strange, abnormal or objectionable. In common parlance, such sufferers are called “mad”, a term which is loaded with contempt, unacceptability and even fear.
The other conditions with which most people are acquainted are Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia when there is memory loss, inability to do basic things such as turning a key to open a lock or recognizing persons, even very close relatives or friends, or saying contradictory things as if such were fact. These conditions are due to the gradual deterioration of the brain and as such are not readily recognized until they become acute.
So far, medical science has not been able to discover the conclusive causes of these disorders though numerous psychiatric and physical theories have been advanced. Accordingly, psychiatric and physical remedies suggested are not conclusive, or are experimental.
Sometimes, some remedies tried have been helpful to individual cases but they have no universal applicability. The discovery by Chinese female scientist, Professor Youyou Tu of an effective anti-malarial drug for which she was recently awarded the Nobel Prize, derived from her exploration of a traditional Chinese herbal medicine, sweet wormwood.
Prof. Tu’s discovery points to some remedies or effective treatments of mental diseases which may be hidden in ancient folk remedies or ancient systems of medicine such as the Ayurvedic. Indeed, a traditional Indian treatment for pain and brain deterioration is the ingesting of tumeric powder (haldi) and also coconut oil (nariyar ka tel). India has the lowest Alzheimer and Dementia rate in the world and many Indian doctors attribute this to the fact that tumeric and coconut oil are used daily in Indian cooking.
Once the public begins to be educated as to the causes of mental disease, they would not regard sufferers with contempt, fear, as pariahs or as almost not human. And families who may have had an Alzheimer sufferer in their midst and may not have noticed the gradual mental deterioration and would have become extremely puzzled and alarmed when the symptoms become acute would not have the usual traumatic experience once they would have understood what is happening.
If sufferers are treated with tolerance, understanding and love, they as well as those who have to be in contact with or have to live with them will be far happier since the sufferers would begin to regain self-esteem, identity, pride and dignity.
The Ministry of Public Health and relevant Non-governmental Organizations (NGO’s) should make education as to the causes and possible treatments of mental disorders part of their programme.

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CONSUMER CONCERNS…EDUCATION AS TO CAUSES OF MENTAL DISORDERS – A PUBLIC HEALTH NECESSITY

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CONSUMER CONCERNS…EDUCATION AS TO CAUSES OF MENTAL DISORDERS – A PUBLIC HEALTH NECESSITY

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