By Robert A. Emmanuel
There has to be a limit to what the public needs to know regarding the mental and physical health of elected officials.
That was the consensus of mental health advocates who called on citizens to be more sensitive towards purported mental health issues.
On Tuesday , a news story was published online claiming that a Member of Parliament was dealing with mental health issues.
Social media was rife with speculation over who was the affected politician.
Observer media could not independently confirm the validity of the claims, but some of the derogatory comments published under the article drew alarm by mental health activists and professionals.
One such mental health advocate, Chaneil Imhoff, told Observer yesterday, “If this was shared without the consent of the individual this is a total breach of privacy and it contradicts the work that activists and mental health professionals do to educate persons on mental illnesses.”
Counsellor and consultant Koren Norton also noted that unless an individual has shown clear signs of an inability to do their job, their physical and mental health status should be private.
“Doctors’ notes and counsellors’ notes are confidential, so nobody’s health status should be made public; only if a person is publicly demonstrating limited capacity to get their job done, then that should be taken into account by the person who employs them,” Norton expressed.
Since Tuesday’s news article, members of the public and politicians have sought to deny speculation that it could be them, with MP for St George Algernon Watts stating on social media that he was “too strong-willed of an individual” to contemplate suicide.
Imhoff and Norton, however, noted that persons dealing with mental health challenges should not be assumed to be weak.
“What is even more alarming is the response of the public and even Members of Parliament. The politicisation of someone’s mental state and the mockery following the release of this article is disappointing and underscores the need for more mental health awareness activities,” Imhoff said.
Norton also stated, “We tend to be very reactive when something happens; everyone talks about it in the public eye, but we need to be proactive. Every single workplace should have access to a counsellor and have workshops for their employees on mental health issues, self-care, balancing work and family life, and dealing with grief. These should be commonplace topics in our society.”
She continued, “When someone says, I have a terrible headache, my blood pressure is going up, or I have back pain, we do not hesitate to say you need to see a doctor … in the very same way, we need to normalise mental health.
“Losing a loved one, going through a bad relationship, breakup or crisis, losing a pet, dealing with chronic illness, being stressed at work to the point of burnout or fatigue and other issues can all take a toll on our mental health.
“Sadly, after all this time and all the public education, people still perceive mental health issues as a sign of weakness or some personality disorder on the individual’s part,” Norton said.
Norton called on the media to continue to educate the public on mental health, whether through interviews with mental health professionals and advocates or conversing with those who have spoken out about their own mental health issues.
