Asia, the largest continent in the world home to a population of over 3.5 billion people,is by no means a homogeneous continent. It has dozens of cultures, religions, languages and ethnic groups.In political systems, it is no less varied, having a variety of both market economies and planned ones. As a result of these highly varied political systems, Asia also spawns a wide variety of health care systems, often based on historical roots and at times colonial heritages. Over 450 million people today are reported to suffer from mental or neurological disorders in the continent.
The Oxford dictionary defines mental health as the state of health of someone’s mind. But some Asians feel that mental health does not exist. Similar to Western countries, there is a widespread tendency to stigmatize and discriminate against people with mental illness in Asia. People with mental illness are considered as dangerous and aggressive which in turn increases shunning them . The role of supernatural, religious and magical approaches to mental illness is prevailing. The pathway to care is often blocked by scepticism towards mental health services and the treatments offered. Affected people tend to suppress their problems to avoid being judged and isolated from society which inturn forces them to take fatal decisions. If you admit you need help for your mental health, parents and other family members might experience fear and shame. Society may assume that your condition is a result of their poor parenting or a hereditary flaw, and that you’re broken because of it. The fear of this reaction stops people from seeking help.
The stigma against mental health began when Asia came under colonial rule in the 1800s. The state of the art in mental health care, in the early 1800s and up to the late 1950s, was the mental asylum, usually situated far from the cities and towns, out of sight and often out of the minds of health care systems. These asylums were built along with leprosy hospitals .. Asylums were built and developed on a different and a much lesser grant than physical health care facilities which made people think that mental health asylums were something odd and dangerous . Additionally, affected people were deemed to be untouchables and were shunned from the society
This prejudice based on assumptions from 200 years ago fuels modern day ignorance, fear and psychological prejudice against the importance of mental health and services for the mentally ill. Although the WHO, The World Health Organisation, in its constitution, clearly defines mental health as an integral component of health, the historical place of mental health services in the minds of medical administrators has for the most part remained well outside of the mainstream health care. As health care facilities developed with time, there were no plans to develop mental health care facilities. They were considered not normal, and therefore shunned.
A study conducted by The University of Maryland School of Public Health research team in 2007 .Looked at needs of mental health for Asian-American young adults from eight Asian-American communities (Asian Indian, Cambodian, Chinese, Indonesian, Korean, Taiwanese, Thai and Vietnamese). The study was part of the 2007 Health Needs Assessment project and looked at the various mental health concerns that were most important within the Asian-American communities in Montgomery County, Maryland. The research team held 19 focus groups with 174 participants who were between the ages of 18 and 30 years old and who identified as 1.5 or 2nd generation immigrants (the study identified 1.5 generation immigrants as those individuals who came to the United States before they were 16 and second generation as those individuals who were born in the United States).
A review of more than 30 national studies showed that a substantial proportion of the public could not correctly recognize mental disorders and often attributed mental illness to psychosocial stress rather than a medical disorder. This has a number of important implications. Early and appropriate help-seeking is associated with improved long-term outcomes for those with mental disorders. The failure to recognize signs and symptoms of mental disorders leads to a delay in help-seeking or seeking help from inappropriate sources.
Let's take India for example. It is the second most populated country in asia. The baby boomer generation and some “modern” parents do not believe that there is such a thing called mental health care or mental health problems. In 2017, 197·3 million (95% UI 178·4–216·4) people had mental disorders in India, including 45·7 million (42·4–49·8) with depressive disorders and 44·9 million (41·2–48·9) with anxiety disorders. We found a significant, but modest, correlation between the prevalence of depressive disorders and suicide death rate at the state level for females and males. The contribution of mental disorders to the total DALYs, The Daily Adjusted Life Years, in India increased from 2·5% (2·0–3·1) in 1990 to 4·7% (3·7–5·6) in 2017.
It is clearly evident that a fair amount of asian population is affected with mental health problems. Now, what are the main reasons or causes which leads to these problems.
Stress and pressure
Parental pressure to succeed in academics. Asian parents expect excellent results from their children and rightfully so but knowingly or unknowingly they put extreme amounts of pressure on their kids, who tend to lose themselves and succumb under this pressure.
Discussing mental health as a taboo and considering the symptoms as a “phase”.
Talking about mental illness is taboo in a number of Asian communities. And I know this because I was born and raised in India. I’ve heard the mentally ill being referred to as “crazy” and hospitals housing the mentally ill callously called “loony bins.”. Elders tend to ignore the problems and outcast people with mental illness. That causes a negative impact on the young generation who look up to them.
Family obligations based on strong traditional and cultural values.
Traditional and secular people tend to ignore problems about mental health which stops the affected from approaching them.
Poverty and low education levels
Poor education contributes to ignorance and stigma. When one does not know what something is, one treats it with hostility and strangeness. Not knowing about mental health can have serious impacts.
Asia is the most populated continent with various different cultures, languages and backgrounds and people have different opinions and point of views but the stigma around mental health is an old school superstition which is not fair to the people who suffer from mental health problems. But Asia is slowly moving towards removing this stigma from its society
What can people do ?
Talk openly about mental health: it is the 20th century and it's about time we remove the “taboo” on topics which so much importance peoples life and can have tremendous effect. Talking openly about it makes people get used to it and slowly accept it.
Educate yourself and others: contrary to popular belief mental health is not just being “crazy”, there are different types of problems that people face. Use it as a learning opportunity and educate people.
Be honest and open about treatment: If you need help or want to visit a psychologist it is totally okay. Nobody gets to judge your choices. Normalize asking for help.
The situation about stigma on mental health is however gradually decreasing. People are now being open and talking about it and are supporting people with mental illness. But it still exists in huge chunks around the continent. We,as the new generation, should take charge and educate people about Mental Health Care and completely remove the stigma around mental illness.
The last thing I want to say is that it's about time that we remove the taboo on mental health problems and normalize seeking help. To the people who are reading this and are suffering with any kind of problems: Do not worry, you are not alone. It is not wrong to seek help. It is not a “curse” or a bad thing to be scared. There are numerous ways you can get help without being judged. Just remember , you are not alone.
Hotlines and sources for help in asia :
Brunei — 145
Malaysia — 603-79568145
Philippines — 0917-989-8727
Singapore — 1800-2214444
Thailand — 02-713-6791 (English), 02-713-6793 (Thai)
Vietnam — 111
India - 18002094353 (12pm to 8 pm daily)
Remember, it's OK to not be OK. And if you need help, please reach out.
Sources:
Written by Prapthi Manjunath from Bangalore, Karnataka
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