I paid a visit to a university lecturer not too long ago and outside his office was a banner that caught my attention. It was an admonition titled, “How to treat others” and it stipulated thus:
Be kind and use kind words
Be helpful
Cooperate with others
Be polite
Take turns, be fair, share
Listen
Give encouragement
Respect the views of others
Permit me to start by asking you this: What do you think a society of over 200 million people, most of whom fall victim to daily physical and/or mental battering from the inclement environment but surprisingly has only 300 psychologists will look like? Like this. Present-day Nigeria. A mess. Someone close to me once made a comment which some may take offence to but which I couldn’t agree more with as I’m convinced he’s right. He said quite matter of factly that the majority of Nigerians would fail psychometric tests if they were to take them today. This is not because they are stark raving mad, but because our thinking and the way we reason have been distorted by the constant barrage of abnormalities that surround us. For all intents and purposes, anomalies have become normalized and we all just carry on with it. I cannot claim to be an exception. It is almost impossible for one to remain 100 percent impervious to things we see or experience on a daily basis. Some of it is bound to permeate, sooner or later.
The increasing need for professionals trained to tackle mental health issues is not debatable as both developed and underdeveloped nations continue to witness an upsurge in mental health issues. The critical area of mental wellness has become a global talking point as more and more societies have come to realize the immense impact a mentally balanced population will ultimately have on its socioeconomic development and general wellbeing. Addiction to smart devices and social media has been taking its toll in many Western societies, leading to a wider spectrum of antisocial behaviour and even radicalism in extreme cases.
In South Korea, which now tops Japan as the suicide capital of the world, the rate of depression has increased dramatically due to the most unlikely of social pressures. The Korean culture places an incredible amount of pressure on individuals to work even harder and attendant insufficient rest has resulted in a growing number of depressed citizens which in turn has led to a spike in suicide cases. This Korean phenomenon puts paid to the widely held belief that financially prosperous people are less prone to committing suicide. Every society is different and each has its own peculiar problems.
Until we in Nigeria come to accept that not all things require spiritual solutions as God has already endowed men and women with the knowledge and wisdom to provide solutions; until we understand that mental health issues are not synonymous with madness and until the stigma attached to it is removed, our people will continue to suffer because of ignorance and because of an understandable fear of ridicule. At this point, it is only fair that I acknowledge the commendable efforts the Lagos State Government has made in the last few years to create adequate awareness regarding this problem and the bodies it has established to provide succour for sufferers in the state. Also laudable is the Lagos State Employee Wellness centre (LASWELL) that which is presently establishing to make available mental health care services for all Lagos government employees.
Mental health issues are real and they affect a far larger number of our population than we realize. In addition to the intrinsic value of man which should make the matter of his wellbeing both physically and mentally, a sacrosanct issue, we would be making a grave mistake if we were to continue ignoring the instrumental benefit to our nation that’s inherent in having a psychologically balanced citizenry. This would go a long way to ensuring we put the right type of people in leadership and would ultimately determine the quality of output of the Nigerian leadership. A “leader” who sees no wrong in jetting out of the country shortly after news reaches him that over 150 innocent school children in his state, some as young as 4 years old, have just been kidnapped by bandits demanding a humongous ransom from their indigent parents, reflects perfectly the sort of heartless treatment Nigerians has become accustomed to. So when the okada driver who’s driving against traffic with his passenger, rain abuses on you after they narrowly escape being hit by your vehicle, you’re gobsmacked because it’s so obvious who’s at fault! You can’t comprehend their reasoning. Constant psychological battering has not only eroded our humanity but has also turned upside down our sense of right and wrong. We have been permissive of bad behaviour for so long that we flare up and feel wronged when somebody objects to our own wrong actions. The Good Book says, “When the sentence for a crime is not quickly carried out, people’s hearts are filled with schemes to do wrong.” This is the price we pay for accepting bad behaviour.
Humans generally “socially norm” to know what the right thing to do is. This means that we generally adapt our behaviour to what we perceive to be the norm in that particular environment in order to fit in. So, in an environment where a significant number of people do the wrong thing, can we perhaps, be excused for following others to do wrong? I’ll leave you to answer that all by yourself.
