Mental health, just like a person’s physical wellbeing, is important for decision making and building relationships. This is both on an individual and a collective scale, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Koren Norton, counsellor, social worker and adjunct lecturer, urged persons to ask questions whenever they notice that an individual might be going through a difficult situation.
Her comments on yesterday’s Observer AM show come on the heels of the death of a 31-year-old man said to have taken his own life over the weekend.
“We have this thing of, ‘I’m minding my business’. No, that’s not helpful. We need to ask questions regardless of the age of person or the stage of life. Have a conversation with them,” Norton stated.
“You need to have a conversation with that person, not to accuse and get them to be defensive, but to ask ‘what’s up?’, ‘what are you going through?’, ‘how can I help you?’, ‘do you want to talk about it?’” she added.
Norton also encouraged persons to do small deeds to assist an individual who is in a stressful situation.
“You see a single mother with six children. You know she is struggling; offer to buy her a school bag in the summer, offer to send one of them to a camp,” she suggested.
For those who don’t feel like they are able to provide enough help, she recommends the individual be referred to someone who can.
“If you don’t feel like you have the tools, then you refer the person to someone who can – a pastor, someone from the family, someone from the social services division,” she instructed.
One contributory factor to mental health struggles is the stressors many people faced from the Covid pandemic.
“Coming out of the Covid-19, we had a lot of persons with increased stressors as a result of financial issues, isolation, uncertainty about life,” Norton said.
Another aspect she highlighted is increased substance abuse by young persons, affecting their ability to react to certain stressful situations.
“We also have a lot of younger persons who have been abusing certain types of mood-altering substances and that inhibits their ability to cope when there are certain life stressors, because they don’t always necessarily react the right way,” she explained.
At workplaces with at least 10 staff, Norton advised creating a workplace wellness programme. She also called for the provision of psycho-social experts, counsellors, and psychiatric nurses at clinics.
For persons who interact with children often, she advocated for specialised training to allow detection and early intervention.
“People who are dealing with children on a regular basis, in the day cares, in the primary schools, we need to teach them how to look for signs of abuse, of molestation, of substance use, of maladaptive behaviours, so that we can start early intervention,” Norton added.
According to the WHO, mental health is the state of wellbeing that enables individuals to cope with life’s stressors, realise their abilities, learn and work well, and contribute to their community.
FACT BOX
- More than 700,000 people die due to suicide every year.
- For every suicide there are many more people who attempt suicide. A prior suicide attempt is the single most important risk factor for suicide in the general population.
- Suicide is the fourth leading cause of death among 15 to 29-year-olds.
- 77 percent of global suicides occur in low- and middle-income countries.
(Source: The World Health Organization)
