MENTAL ILLNESS

I sometimes wonder how many people are suffering  silently for no other reason than lack of understanding and a stubborn stigma against illness amongst us Africans/Blacks. Not that other "taboo" illness,don't worry I won't go there yet. We will call it anything: dysfunctional, bad manners, anti social, but not mental illness. I mean how could it be? Isn't that the term psychiatrists and mental health specialists coin to excuse bad behaviour? Isn't that a white people issue? If we do dare to admit and call it what it is, we try to conveniently excuse ourselves from the responsibility to help by claiming that the person in question ought to want the help. How is someone who isn't in their right mind supposed to make the sound decision to get help? What if they never do make that sound decision? What if the only wake up call you get is the one that tells you he/she took her life or the life of someone? Mental illness is an illness like any other illness and the victims of this illness should be treated with compassion and care. When anyone falls sick, he/she will go and see a doctor even if they are praying and believing for healing.The same practicality that will remind us to go see the doctor for a serious illness even when we are praying for healing should be the same practicality that we apply to mental illness. That's for my christian brothers and sisters who come up with the "I'm praying for him/her" defense to their nonchalant approach to mental illness. There is nothing weak or wrong about admitting to a real problem . There is everything wrong with ignoring a silent killer hoping that it will miraculously disappear. If many of us can comprehend a spiritual attack, why can't we come to terms with a mental attack? For a people who claim to be  such a strong group of people we really do exhibit some cowardly traits when it comes to real issues like that.

Let's really be what we claim to be, strong people.Strong enough to handle these issues, strong enough to be our brother's keeper when he can't be his own keeper, strong enough to speak out and change the most secret issues of our people.