IT’S when bodies like the Psychiatric Survivors Association start pleading with members of the community, to treat people with psychosocial disabilities equally, that we get a bit of a reality check.
As our report today on Page 4 suggests, the plea follows findings that this group of people continue to be neglected by members of the public.
Association project officer Jese Mamanavesi said it was important for people to accept those with psychosocial disabilities.
He said people with psychosocial disabilities had to put up with isolation, neglect, discrimination and rejection by members of their own community on a daily basis.
The association, he said, had been visiting affected people around the country in a bid to reduce and put an end to such issues.
Mental health continues to be a touchy subject in Fiji.
Let’s face it. The St Giles Hospital in Suva continues to attract a perception that is uncalled for, and unfair.
We have written about this issue before. For too long now, patients suffering from mental health have been rudely castigated and ridiculed by people who do not really understand them.
And if that isn’t bad enough, the institution that is there to help patients live a normal life, and continue to be valuable citizens of our country has been tagged many names by people who choose to hide behind a veil of ignorance.
There is a stigma associated with mental illness. It’s probably because many of us just do not understand it.
Perhaps we choose not to understand it, given the fact it’s probably easier to be ignorant and maybe judgmental about something that’s not easily understood.
Given the lifestyle we live now, the demands on our time, pressure to perform and excel in whatever we choose to do in life, the mind is stretched to the limit at times and understandably there will be people who are prone to cases of anxiety attacks and depression.
As we go about our daily lives, let us be mindful of the fact that there are people who are struggling to cope with mental health issues.
They need our understanding. They need us to believe in their ability to get over their health issues and continue to be valuable citizens of Fiji.
Let us be part of the process of eradicating the stigma that hangs over mental health.
Let’s take that first step to understand it.
