“Prevention is Better than Cure” – This phrase has enormous significance when we discuss Mental Health.
Mental disorders are normally caused by a combination of biological, environmental, psychological and genetic factors. Except for the genetic factor, we do have control over the other three factors. Thus it becomes critical that individuals, families and communities identify the significance of creating and providing safe and trusted psychological spaces, understand the biology of mental health and provide supportive environments within families and communities.
Creating awareness by engaging in empathetic conversations with all the stakeholders (students, families, institutions and wider communities) can bring in the required perception shift in society.
Awareness and understanding goes a long way in equipping populations with the skill of “help Seeking” in times of distress, helps change the taboo associated with mental health and become supportive and responsive to the needs of others.
Almost 70 percent of the mental health conditions are caused by environmental factors. The genetically inherited psychological dysfunctions can also be triggered by environmental factors. Thus it becomes so critical that every citizen is made aware about Mental Wellness. This awareness can go a long in ensuring that our youngsters are protected from acquiring a mental health condition. The social cost involved in psychological dysfunctions are enormous. When a person in the family becomes psychologically dysfunctional, the impact on critical resources like time, effort and money are beyond calculation. It also takes a huge toll on the productivity of people engaged with the dysfunctional individual. The social cost of psychological dysfunctions in an individual can run into millions. When the “prevention is better than cure” phrase is applied in Mental Health a few thousands invested for creating awareness can help reduce the social cost on Mental Health by bringing it down to 1 percent.
It’s time we realised this and form effective collaborative of all stakeholders and create awareness on Mental Wellness. That will help save our future generations and also ensure the current generations will desist from creating further intergenerational trauma.
