Hiren Pandit: Good Health and well-being are specifically mentioned in Goal-3 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 agenda. We cannot achieve sustainable development without mental health. It is important to decentralize mental health services to suburban, rural and remote areas.
Training on mental health is essential to building a skilled workforce. Training should be given from district hospitals to community clinics. The family, society, state and government have to take more responsibility.
Covid-19 is a viral disease, but the prevalence of this disease is so countless that it transcends the dangers of physical health and disturbs us mentally, socially and economically. About 59, 11,092 people died over the last two years. The approximate number of deaths in Bangladesh is 28,774 (as of 23 February 2022).
As a result, no one knows when this crisis will be solved. We have to find the answer to this difficult question of what will happen in this difficult reality. During the Corona period, 36% of the people were fired for various reasons. Although three percent of the people have jobs, they have not received their salaries and allowances properly. Most of them are middle class. So, what was the way to overcome the crisis?
During this crisis of corona infection, the government has taken development activities and people-friendly measures for the overall protection and livelihood of people of different professions. All these measures contributed a lot to keep the wheel of the economy running.
During the Corona period, every person in Bangladesh is more or less in the midst of mental stress. Of these, about 34.9 percent of youth and young women are under various types of mental stress. Suffering from such mental instability, 70.8% of the people are harming themselves physically.
Many researchers are working to find a solution to various mental health problems, to identify the causes of suicide and to find its solutions. From March 2020 to February 2021, there were a total of 14,438 suicides in the country. According to data from 322 suicide case studies, 49 percent of those who committed suicide were between the ages of 20 and 35 and 57 percent of them are women.
Many people tend to commit suicide due to mental illness or stress. Depression is one of the most common causes of suicide. In addition, experts believe that people often commit suicide due to various hallucinations, delusions and intoxication. In addition to mental illness and stress, many people choose this path because of pride, estrangement, poverty, dowry system, rape, humiliation. In this case, the body is found to be deficient in serotonin, dopamine, non-adrenaline, experts said.
According to the data available, most young people suffer from mental depression.
Multiple studies have shown that one in five people infected with corona develops mental problems such as depression, anxiety and psychosis. Experts say that the rate of stress, anxiety, depression and panic among people who are not affected by corona and health workers is many times higher than usual. Even if you recover from corona, there is still a risk of mental problems.
Mental problems have also increased in Bangladesh during the Covid period than usual. Mental distress is exacerbated by the fear of corona infection, the uncertainty of access to medical care, the fear of death, the economic crisis, the loss of jobs, unemployment and even misconceptions about the corona and coronary heart disease among health workers at all levels engaged in corona treatment which is harming their mental health. Even in Corona, domestic violence and gender-based violence have increased worldwide.
Good health is good physical and mental health. Physical and mental well-being complement each other. It is not possible to achieve mental well-being without physical well-being. Mental illness, on the other hand, affects physical well-being. Although physical illness is visible, mental illness is not visible in the early stages. It is visible when it assumes a deadly shape. This person-centered problem also appears to be the cause of his family and social problems. Another mental problem is ‘anxiety’.
The person with the problem worries too much about anything. Fear of losing family members or important things always worries them. Even deadly skepticism at one time or other works. Although it seems normal at the initial stage, the family and social life of the person with this problem may be disrupted later on. Another condition in mental illness is ‘depression’. An estimated 19 billion people worldwide suffer from depressive disorders.
According to the doctors, depression is a mental and physical disease at the same time. Now the question arises from the source of these statistics, how favourable or not at all favorable is the environment of the country for the patients suffering from depression and mental illness? The environment here refers to the family, social and the whole national environment.
Suicide is not the solution to any problem. Life must go on with courage, without fear, without reliance. Why make this small life smaller with your own hands? If a black cloud peeks into the sky of the mind, then it is important to awaken self-confidence. You just have to be more discriminating with the help you render toward other people. Why deprive yourself of joy for others. Suicide cannot provide any solution. He is the real person who is in trouble.
The soil under the feet needs to be hardened. Children should pay attention to their establishment without being burdened by others. Spending quality time with relatives, friends and family members. The hand of sympathy should be extended to those who are prone to suicide. You have to try to understand him.
Have we ever wondered how a handicapped person or a poor day labourer around us is living happily amid hundreds of adversities? But many people think of suicide for a little unexpected event! If you or your loved one grow tendency of suicide, you must seek the help of a psychiatrist.
Successful people are in control of almost every single situation. Even if you want to talk about mental health, you can’t talk to everyone. Most people keep everything inside themselves for the sake of honour, to protect the image. What can the government do in this case? But we have to think about what can be done for the elderly.
Although the reality is hard, we have to move forward ourselves to enjoy life. The family, society, the state and the government have to take more responsibility to overcome the situation.
Hiren Pandit is a Columnist and Researcher