Mental health is the situation where a person’s cognitive or psychological agency is unable to coordinate actions in a productive manner such that they are not able to cope well with the demands of daily routine at work, at home or within their spheres of influence in a socially acceptable manner. Like I cited earlier, mental health is a situation which usually begins with an anomaly, graduates to a disorder and eventually degenerates to an illness.
The prevalent cases of mental health anomalies, disorders and illnesses – like mental stress and frustration, depression and anxiety disorder, drugs-and-sex-related addictions as well as illnesses like schizophrenia, insanity and extreme cases like suicide in contemporary society has more than made the quest for an effective and cost-friendly way of maintaining sanity or what is professionally termed mental wellness; a necessity.
There is no doubt in my mind that at one time or the other, someone here or perhaps persons we know directly or indirectly has fallen victim of one or another of the mentioned mental health situations. And, to pretend that all was well with our world as of today is to tell ourselves a blatant lie. In fact, studies have shown that behind the leading causes of marital discord, separation or divorce is a mental health situation especially mental stress.
It has been established too that behind most indecent outbursts, domestic violence and terrorist attacks experienced in our neighborhoods is a mental health situation. So, with cases of sexual and gender-based violence, high food prices, unemployment, the weak naira, career dissatisfaction and other non-clinical situations like wrong relationships and wrong locations fueling the menace of mental health, it is no wonder hence, why mental wellness is a pursuit.
Unfortunately, not much progress has been achieved about this pursuit. In most narratives on mental health that I have had the privilege to listen to, I must admit that they fell short of a very vital link that shouldn’t have been ignored as it were but which is consistently ignored. What’s that link? The meaning of life. Also, when we say mental health situations; I noticed that audiences are wont to think that we mean to say insanity. Without doubt, their thoughts about mental health as insanity have always attracted prejudice and stigmatization.
So, what is mental health?
Mental health is the situation where a person’s cognitive or psychological agency is unable to coordinate actions in a productive manner such that they are not able to cope well with the demands of daily routine at work, at home or within their spheres of influence in a socially acceptable manner. Like I cited earlier, mental health is a situation which usually begins with an anomaly, graduates to a disorder and eventually degenerates to an illness.
For example, people who are dissatisfied with their careers and; showed signs of contemplating suicide often began to show signs of mental stress and deep frustration on their jobs first. They later become depressed and sometimes drawn to alcohol or sex which finally turns into an addiction. And when they become trapped with this addictive behavior with no way of breaking free; they start to contemplate suicide.
But notice that it all began as an anomaly which graduated to a disorder and finally to an illness. Now, psychiatrists, therapists, life coaches and even spiritualists, all have some well received methods of boosting wellness most of which does not always resolve the situations thoroughly mainly because of their cost implications. For example, accessing a rehab for a drug-addict, a sex maniac, an unhappy wife or maybe a confused man is by no means cheap.
In fact, just last year, It was estimated that the volume of patronage into the rehab industry globally cost a whopping $11 billion USD! That tells us the global quest for mental wellness.
The power of self-discovery
But then, the high cost of procuring mental health wellness has naturally given birth to other remedies like the power of self-discovery. With the power of self-discovery comes an entirely new paradigm in attempting to both understand the subject of mental health situations and in resolving mental health wellness in a cost-friendly way. For the first time, we get to see the connection of mental health situations with purpose (or the meaning of a person’s life).
Here, we see that human beings just like aquatic animals such as fish are created to operate in a certain ecosystem from which if thrown out, we become exposed to every harsh condition that are inimical to human life and, that makes survival difficult. With this new perspective introduced into the business of mental health wellness, it means that in resolving a consequence of mental health challenge like mental stress or frustration or even depression, recognition of the essence, meaning or purpose of life is mandatory to reestablished wellness.
How the self-discovery approach works
In simple language, this is how the self-discovery approach works. When a fish is thrown out of water, it gasps for survival. But when returned, the fish revives again. Resolving mental health in victims; required much the same approach. People experienced mental health challenges for diverse reasons and it usually drives them to the point of seeking clarity for why they existed in the first instance or left them feeling that their lives was somehow useless.
For instance, a woman who is dissatisfied in her marriage would normally be driven to ask such questions as: Is this all that there is to life? Does everyone have to die because they made a wrong choice of relationship? So, with such questions; answers are needed and needed very fast, if the victim must prevent themselves from relapsing further into emotional turmoil. This scenario is only a sample of the role that self-discovery plays in mental health situations.
Finding your passion and focusing on what you love is great therapy. To help a victim regain mental wellness, self-discovery approaches their situation by asking hope-arousing questions:
Who am I and what was I meant to accomplish in the first instance? This life was meant to be happy. And I am wired to achieve tremendous success.
What were the features and givens that would enable for those accomplishments? The givens necessary to achieve happiness include strength and weaknesses, natural ability, gifts and talents, hobbies, dreams, aspirations and what we love and, of course the gift of people!
What are the reasons for the dissatisfaction? In this case, reason is marital dissatisfaction.
And, how does all these givens help in resolving my dissatisfaction? The victim must first become aware of the givens (self-awareness), know why or purpose of the givens (to affect humanity positively) and accept their reality (self-acceptance). Our givens have the ability to attract the right people to us, create or carve out a career path for us and, give us a place in the sands of history. When we give of our givens, the joys we get from it bring us the wellness we need.
The good news is that all the roads to a happy life lead inside. What you have on the inside is given for your usefulness and for your happiness. Therefore, no matter how chaotic life may get around a person; if they would become calm on the inside first; every other thing about them would soon align accordingly and get calm as well. You may wish to check out my latest book: THE WONDERS OF SELF-DISCOVERY on this subject via www.amazon.com. And let’s not forget that there’s no recovery without discovery.
Amb. Ifeanyichukwu George; Executive Director, Self-Awareness for Suicide Prevention Initiative, Africa writes from Abuja. 08062577718