A Reflection on the continuum of mental health in social contexts: Can we have this is Nigeria?
Before we go into the details of mental health well-being in social contexts, it would be very important for us to first, understand what mental health is all about. According to the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (2021), “mental health comprises our emotional, psychological and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel, act and handle stress.” Additionally, the World Health Organisation (2023) defined it as “the state of mental well-being that allows people to cope with stress, realise their potentials and abilities, learn and work well, as well as contribute positively to their community”.
Determined by an interplay of persons, social and structural limitations, mental health is a component of health and well-being that exists in a continuum based on different individual perspectives and with different degrees of difficulty and outcomes (WHO, 2023). As a fundamental human right as well as a component of health and wellness that is essential for personal and community development, I believe that there is need for the international community to, across all levels of social, political and economic organisations, prioritise mental health well-being by showing great concern and upholding it in their respective countries and business organisations.
It is very important to note that in the world today, the quest for happiness and well-being reflect a range of different interests and culture (White & Eyber, 2017). That is to say that everyone wants happiness and comfort in different ways. However, what seems inadequate about these clamour for happiness and well-being is its focus on material and financial possessions rather than on the emotional, psychological and social wellness of the people. Thus, it is based on this background that this article seeks to explicitly discuss the need for mental health well-being in a social context for instance in a workplace and business setting.
Interestingly, the idea of mental health well-being is often being misunderstood and alternated for physical, sexual and physiological wellness. In other words, a lot of people in the society today especially in third world countries do not understand what mental health wellbeing is as well as what it does. This is evident in the World Health Organisation Atlas Report that the level of public health expenditure on mental health in low and middle income countries in 2017 was low with one per cent as against seventy-two per cent in high income countries (WHO, 2018).
In a bid to explore other views on mental health well-being within the community, I contacted my relative in Nigeria who happens to be my in-law. His name is Clement Ogbonna and he runs and manages a mega supermarket business in Lagos State, Nigeria. Mr. Clement is sixty-one years old and is committed to the progress of his business. Having requested for his opinion on the article especially in relation to the work ethics and policy of his business organisation on the mental health well-being of his employees, r. Clement responded thus:
“Firstly, it is not in our culture to grant work exemption requests. This is because it does not add up to the growth of our business. Also, due to the fact that some unserious and lazy employees often take advantage of it to attend to their personal programmes outside their official work here, we decided to pay less attention to it. Secondly, according to our work rules, we grant work exemption to our employees on occasions such as the demise of a family member or illness of an employee. Truth be told, the issue of paying attention to our employees’ mental health to the extent that we grant them leave is a bit strange and new to me. However, this has given me a reason to have a rethink on the need for us to consider not only the physical and financial wellbeing of our employees, but also their emotional and mental wellness. Of course, it is certain that an employee who is emotionally disturbed cannot function effectively and this is why it is paramount for business owners like myself to prioritise their employees’ mental health.”
From Mr. Clément’s viewpoint on mental health well-being using his business as case study, I was able to deduce the following points:
A lot of Nigerian business owners do not prioritise the mental health well-being of neither their employees nor theirs because they do not even know what mental health is and why it is necessary for the continued progress of their businesses.
Most business owners categorise mental health well-being as general well-being. As such, they think that whenever a person is sick or suffers a particular ailment, such a fellow is mentally sick as well.
Most business organisations in Nigeria, especially those in the private sector find it difficult to grant their employees’ leave requests on account of illness (except on occasions where it is very obvious) because sometimes, the reason given in request for the leave is untrue.
Notwithstanding this situation, the truth remains that the productivity level of most business organisations would be lower than expected as long as the mental health well-being of employees in these workplaces are not considered. Furthermore, unlike in Nigeria, people living in Australia have better options or at least a governments that are interested in searching for ways to provide adequate support for Australians who suffer one or more mental health challenges. Howbeit, from my investigation, and in line with the evidence provided by Davey (2021), a lot of Australians complain of the country’s inadequate and unsafe mental health system. Highlighting health practitioners’ grievances with lack of funding for the system, overmedication of patients, improper quick fixes, inconsistencies in Australia’s health system, and other challenges, Davey (2021) revealed that some mentally ill patients have lost confidence in the country’s health system. As such, they now rely on self-medication and help for family and friends for their wellbeing. Based on this situation, it is my conclusion that the support for the mental helath well-being of Australians is not enough.
References
Center for Disease Control and Prevention. (2021). About Mental Health. https://www.cdc.gov/mentalhelath/learn/index.htm.
Davey, M. (2021, April 18). Like Hunting for Unicorns: Australians on the search for adequate, affordable mental healthcare. The Guardian. https://amp.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/apr/19/-hunting-for-unicorns-australians-on-the-search-for-adequate-affordable-mental-healthcare.
White, S., C. & Eyber, C. (2017). Positive Mental Health and Well-being. https://www.reserachgate.net/publication/313346881.
W H O (2018). Mental Health Atlas 2017. World Health Organisation.
W H O. (2023). Mental Health. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/mental-health-strenghtening-our-response.
