THE BIGGER PICTURE Shalini SinhaWe can think about physical health, even emotional health. But the phrase, mental health, automatically evokes concern.
We don't want to be identified with it in anyway. There is a persistent stigma: "My mental capacity implies the functioning of my brain - my thoughts, my self, the essence of who I am. How can I remain empowered in the face of a suggested malfunctioning of my brain?"
From this arises deep struggles in bringing about support and healing in mental health: health and healing are not possible without empowerment. Empowerment is not possible while a belief in one's capacity is undermined. Perhaps this conundrum explains why so many people treated for mental health in our medical system feel angry about their experience.
Drugs play a role in this. It is very difficult to remain empowered when being administered a drug that is meant to control our minds in a way that we feel unable to do. The implication is clear; neither do we, nor those around us, believe we could be more powerful than these feelings, and so we are subjected to chemical interactions that are designed to be more powerful than us.
This relationship is not exclusive to prescribed psychiatric drugs. We use alcohol, nicotine, recreational drugs and even sugar in this way. We use them to give us courage, make us feel better, relax us or let us have fun.
In reality, they take away courage and, as we become sober, we find we don't feel better, are less relaxed and that our fun is limited and superficial. What they do, unequivocally, is take control of our lives where we were meant to and could be in charge. Being powerless can become a habit.
Our mental health is something that deserves attention. It deserves nurture. It is characterised by whether we can truly be ourselves. While this definition may be new to some - in particular, those taught to think of mental health only in terms of the most acute struggles, categorised and diagnosed by psychiatrists - it does make clear the fact that mental health is a significant part of any person's life.
Few people live fun-filled, impassioned, connected, fulfilling lives with no limits while at the same time holding onto a real confidence in their sense and expression of their self.
Mental health is a part of us, every moment and day of our lives, just as physical health is. Good mental health enables us to access the loving and natural support of other human beings, and heal those places we have been most terrified, shocked, confused, insulted, disempowered or dismissed.
There has been no place in the world or time in history when people have not been subjected to deep hurts. As humans, we have an inherent and very simple system for dealing with it - we reach out, secure attention, communicate the struggle and release the distress (we laugh, cry, shake, sweat, yawn, rage, whatever it takes to feel).
When we do this together, the hurt doesn't linger. It shifts and we move forward. We learn new things from the experience and gain new thoughts. We get smarter and our connection with others is re-established and confirmed.
Despite the prevailing hopelessness in today's society, there is plenty of evidence of our great care for each other, creativity and the excellent functioning of our minds. It is true, a great many, deeply lodged distresses disrupt thinking and behaviour on a mass scale. But, these are not fully representative of the whole of our history.
Throughout time, people have continued to think through even the worst situations. Some we remember - Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Teresa, the Dalai Lama. Many have been neglected or forgotten.
Even examples in our own lives are obscured by more prevailing feelings of failure and inadequacy. At this point in time, despite all our techno-gadgets, history has brought us to a struggle for self-esteem. En masse, at a social level, we are struggling for mental health.
In this, a truth becomes quickly apparent: strength in mental health cannot be achieved in isolation. We must believe in our intelligence, and hold out hope for each other. To ensure the mental health of society, each one of us must embark on a journey to become empowered. We must recover our voices, find ways to connect to, and so listen to, each other, and we will find we must do this in turns. It is this that is true equality - love and attention equally for each other.
Regardless of the depth of struggle, the journey for mental health is an active one. It requires responsibility, courage and commitment. We must see a role for ourselves in the world.
We must believe in ourselves and decide to co-operate with others. And, we must persist. It is not an easy task to reach out and choose love over the most distressing of human emotions. But it is possible, and what is needed for us all to move forward.
ssinha@irish-times.ie
Shalini Sinha has established Forward Movement, where she practises life coaching and the Bowen Technique.