World Mental Health Day was celebrated on 10 October, and there were various activities conducted in Malaysia.
An interesting number of corporate organisations also took part in events. This was very encouraging and underlined the importance of mental health for the general wellbeing of individuals in the family, workplace and society.
There were activities promoted to enhance mental health, such as talks, sporting activities and yoga practices.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), mental health conditions severely disrupt daily life and contribute to massive economic losses amounting to US$1tn (RM4tn) annually in lost productivity.
There are various areas of concern affecting the mental health of individuals in society according to the WHO – such as anxiety and depressive disorders, suicides, severe mental disorders and vulnerable life span groups like older adults.
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While all these initiatives to address mental disorder issues are welcome, the Association for Welfare and Dialogue (Acid) is concerned that the understanding of mental health issues has been narrowly understood, from the perspective of human beings as social economic beings, rather than human people with integral human dignity that is beyond the limited aspects of socioeconomic progress.
Besides that, by merely coming up with activities to address mental disorders without understanding the root causes of issues related to mental health such as unjust social conditions, material deprivation and relational issues with other persons, we will not be able to grasp the underlying conditions that lead to mental disorders.
Harassment, social deprivation
For example, a worker who is mentally harassed by his or her superior with the intention of forcing a resignation, has a relational, psychological and social dimension.
Material and social deprivation like being underpaid and living in poor housing conditions could also lead to mental disorders.
Lack of spiritual life and communion with others could also cause mental disorders, since humans are spiritual and social beings.
An integral human being with dignity is understood through the framework of integral human development.
Authentic human development cannot be reduced to just one metric like economic wealth or physical survival.
Instead, an authentic human life requires promoting the good of each person and of the whole person across all dimensions such the material, social, intellectual, moral, relational, spiritual and psychological.
Unless all these integral dimensions are addressed and not merely on the individualistic psychological dimension, any efforts will only resolve issues on a short-term basis.
Therefore, Acid would like to urge the authorities who are involved in addressing mental health issues to emphasise the importance of respecting human dignity.
It means we must consider various aspects – material, intellectual, social, moral, relational, spiritual and psychological – in promoting mental health.
This would help in addressing mental health issues from a long-term perspective.
In essence, respect for human dignity in all dimensions should be the motto in addressing mental health issues in the country. – Malaysiakini
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