We have a broken relationship with nature, family, community and neighbourhood and we feel it is normal. All that were common and universal are denied to us and rubbished as obsolete and a thing of the past.
TOMY PALACKAL OFM
Mental Health is an inclusive term for emotional, psychological, and social wellbeing of persons. It is an umbrella term for how we think, feel, act in our day today life. It impacts people across their lifespan. It is an integral component of health and well-being that underpins our individual and collective abilities to make decisions, build relationships and shape the world we live in. Mental health is a basic human right and it is crucial to personal, community and socio-economic development.
It is important to note in recent times this topic has gained a great amount of attention and reflection among common people. The mental health scenario that unfolded out of the lockdown forced by the pandemic situation has drawn our attention greatly to what was already fermenting in our interpersonal, and intrapersonal realities. The restlessness that has been simmering beneath the surface of modern life was always beckoning our attention to the reality of brokenness and fragmentation of the fraternal bond that existed between every element in this created universe. This brokenness and fragmentation is the ground on which the present generation has built its home.
Our relationship is largely broken with nature, family, community and neighbourhood and we feel it is normal. As we progressed, we are forced to remain in this space thinking it is a healthy way of being. Some of the clinical experiences with clients in sessions indicate a rather frightening malady that has taken deeper roots into our interpersonal, social and psychological landscape and renders us helpless and clueless about the possible movement to a meaningful future.
About a month ago, Aarav, an young man who had just completed his masters and had begun his career in counselling died of suicide in his apartment. Apparently, he was the only child of his well to do parents who were staying abroad. He stayed with his partner in an apartment in a metropolitan city but found his life unbearably lonely. The easy way out for the boy from all that alienated and emphasized his sense of isolation was death by suicide. But what gave birth to this sense of isolation and alienation in the boy needs to be understood. Aarav is only one of the thousands who adopt such extreme measures to deal with their sense of alienation and isolation. Situations like this shows how deeply disconnected we are while being with everyone. And it points out a fragmented relational fabric, which once grounded and protected us from our rather frightening existential realities.
It is a fact, a quick skimming through the newspapers and communication media during the past three months reveal, the picture of a fragile, disintegrating psychological landscape of humanity. The types of crimes unheard of, the brutality of the acts committed, the violence and malice meditated and executed, the indifference and callousness that is tangible in every form of relationships, the inability for a meaningful engagement with oneself, others, and the society, are all underscored in these news reports. They indicate a very delicate and a vitiated state of mental health and hygiene, both personal and social. What drove the society and the individuals to a state like this?
I think the process had been long on and now we are confronted with the outcomes of that process. Humans conceived an anthropocentric view of the universe and began the process of alienation and exclusion with every step of development and advancement. We activated this process in every known sphere of our existence. This estrangement and alienation have impacted even the sense of who one is as a living being and as a relational being. The links that connects us in the ecosystem has weakened so much that we have become parasitical and devoid of strong roots to ground us.
The space in our interpersonal and relational spheres have become so impoverished and malnourished, that, one is unable to weather through the normal stresses that come one’s way. Minor frustrations, fluctuations, and changes in emotional ties, even a remote possibility of uncertainty and changes in the future brings us close to helplessness and confusion. Humans feel unprepared and unsupported as humanity experiences an exaggerated sense of individuality and the resulting isolation. All that was common and universal are denied to them and rubbished as obsolete and a thing of the past.
It is only by reclaiming and nurturing the universal and common links that connected us fundamentally in the uncomplicated life of the past, we will be able to find our steps to the future. It is essential that we must place man back in the complex and intricate network of relationships and connections, which will nurture his sinews and muscles needed for the journey forward. Studies on the centrality of human relationships has emphasized the importance of connectedness that gives birth, nurtures, maintains and sustains an individual’s sense of identity and meaning in life. And this ambience of connections is to be preserved as a sacred sanctuary, as that is a space that cannot be duplicated or reproduced by advancements in science or technology.
It is crucial to remind ourselves of the words of Abraham Maslow to grasp the importance of the contribution that each one of us make (in small or big ways) to the world around us. “Let people realize clearly that every time they threaten someone or humiliate or unnecessarily hurt or dominate or reject another human being, they become forces for the creation of psychopathology, even if these be small forces. Let them recognize that every person who is kind, helpful, decent, psychologically democratic, affectionate, and warm, is a psychotherapeutic force, even though a small one”
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