Vijesti ROMI.HR

Sreća, radost, pozitivan stav, mir, harmonija, zadovoljstvo - svi su elementi mentalnog zdravlja. Mentalno zdravlje odražava naše emocionalno, psihološko i društveno blagostanje. Ovisno o stanju našeg mentalnog zdravlja, djelujemo, mislimo i osjećamo se na različite načine. Odlučujemo kako svladavamo stres i donosimo odluke u životu.

Tokom cijelog života se suočavamo s situacijama koje utječu na naše raspoloženje  i ponašanje. Biti mentalno zdrav je jednako važno kao i biti fizički zdrav kako bismo efikasno radili, uživali u životu, doprinosili svijetu i socijalizirali se s zajednicom.

Nažalost, mentalno zdravlje je jedno od zanemarenih područja javnog zdravlja. Prema Svjetskoj zdravstvenoj organizaciji gotovo milijarda ljudi živi s mentalnim poremećajima. Pri tome vrlo mali broj ljudi ima pristup uslugama mentalnog zdravlja. Statistike Svjetske zdravstvene organizacije pokazuju da u zemljama s niskim i srednjim prihodima više od 75% ljudi s mentalnim poremećajima uopće ne dobivaju terapiju. To također ovisi o mentalitetu ljudi u različitim zemljama. Na primjer, u Ukrajini većina ljudi još uvijek vjeruje da je sramotno tražiti psihološku pomoć. Međutim, mentalno zdravlje je sfera života koja je izuzetno važna.
 
Ove godine problem je postao još ozbiljniji zbog pandemije COVID-19, koja utječe na mentalno zdravlje skoro svih ljudi. Čak ako nisu zaraženi, mnogi ljudi osjećaju stres, strah i zabrinutost. Naš normalan život se promijenio uslijed novih okolnosti. Doživljavamo ograničenje kretanja, komuniciranja s drugim ljudima kako bismo usporili širenje virusa.
 
Ove godine smo morali proći kroz novo iskustvo lockdowna. Većina obitelji asocira kuću sa osjećajem sigurnosti i ljubavi. Međutim, postoje obitelji s niskim životnim standardom, lošim uvjetima i neugodnim mentalnim okruženjem. Zbog lockdowna i ograničenja kretanja, svi članovi obitelji su se našli zajedno u zatvorenom prostoru što je rezultiralo porastom razine nasilja. Zamjenik direktora Zaklade “Childline Indija“  je najavio da je od početka  u Indiji zabilježeno povećanje broja poziva na telefonsku liniju za pomoć djeci od 50%. To pokazuje da je sve veći broj djeci postaju žrtve u vlastitim domovima. To se ne odnosi samo na fizičko, već i na mentalno nasilje. Situacija u kojoj su oboje ili jedan od roditelja ovisni o alkoholu ili drogama, roditelji se cijelo vrijeme svađaju, a  djeca sve to promatraju ili su dio procesa, stvara vrlo nepovoljnu atmosferu. Čak i one obitelji koje su imale pozitivnu atmosferu kod kuće prije zaključavanja doživjele su stres dok su dugo bile s istim ljudima u zatvorenom prostoru. Zbog nestanka stalnog izvora prihoda broj siromašnih obitelji se povećao tokom lockdowna, što je rezultiralo frustracijom i bespomoćnošću. Takvi osjećaji su uzrokovali nasilje prema djeci, što je pak dovelo do depresije, tjeskobe, pa čak i samoubojstava.
 

Postavlja se još jedno pitanje kada je riječ o obrazovanju. Tokom lockdowna sve škole i sveučilišta su učenicima nudile lekcije preko interneta. Međutim, djeca iz obitelji s niskim prihodima imaju problem s pohađanjem takvih lekcija, jer uglavnom nemaju pristup Internetu. Obitelji koje nemaju takav problem nailaze na poteškoće u komunikaciji između roditelja i djece. U slučaju obrazovanja na daljinu, roditelji su prisiljeni provoditi više vremena sa svojom djecom kako bi im pomogli s učenjem novog materijala i domaćim zadacima. Mnogi ljudi nemaju dovoljno znanja ili strpljenja za to, što rezultira vikanjem i sukobima.

Dakle, ako prosječne obitelji koje žive u pristojnim uvjetima imaju takve poteškoće, zamislite situaciju u izoliranim romskim naseljima koja nemaju struju, vodu, javni prijevoz i hranu. Većina Roma nema stalan posao i zarađuje od sive ekonomije. To znači da tokom lockdowna Romi uglavnom ne mogu raditi "od kuće". Djeca ne mogu sudjelovati u online nastavi jer nemaju kompjutore, internet vezu, pa čak ni knjige. Fizičko i psihološko nasilje također je rasprostranjemo u romskim obiteljima,kako prema djeci tako i prema ženama. Niz obitelji nema zdravstveno osiguranje, što znači da nemaju ni pristup zdravstvenoj skrbi. Osim toga, COVID-19 je dodao još stresa onim romskim obiteljima koje se svakodnevno bore za život. Sve to stvara nezdravu atmosferu i donosi brojne mentalne izazove.

Konačno, trebali bismo podići svijest o tome da je briga o mentalnom zdravlju od vitalne važnosti i ne treba je smatrati sramotnom. U modernom društvu površnog savršenstva i pozitive, ljudi se boje pričati o problemima čak i sa svojim prijateljima. Traženje psihološke pomoći trebalo bi postati normalna stvar, posebno u vrijeme COVID-19. Trebamo biti svjesni posljedica koje donosi COVID-19 kako bi se izbjeglo povećanje slučajeva mentalnih bolesti.

World Mental Health Day is celebrated annually on October 10. This international day was established in 1992 at the initiative of Deputy Secretary General of World Federation for Mental Health Richard Hunter. First few years it had no specific theme and was just promoting mental health and educating people in general. However, in 1994 it was celebrated with a theme for the first time, which was “Improving the Quality of Mental Health Services throughout the World”. After that every year the problems of mental health are raised. It promotes the program of world mental health education, awareness and advocacy against social stigma. In modern society the issues of discrimination on the basis of culture, gender, race, intelligence and health appear daily. Last year there was a theme called “Mental Health Promotion and Suicide Prevention”, which is very spread in the modern society. That’s why this day has a significant importance for the whole society.

Happiness, joy, positivity, peace, harmony, contentment – all of these are elements of mental health. Mental health represents our emotional, psychological and social well-being. Depending on the state of mental health, we act, think and feel in different ways. We decide how to deal with stress and make choices in life.

During all our life we experience different kind of situations which affect our mood and behavior. Being healthy mentally is as important as being healthy physically, so that we can work productively, enjoy life, contribute into the world and socialize with our community.

Sadly, mental health is one of the most neglected areas of public health. According to World Health Organization, close to 1 billion people live with mental disorders. And a very low number of people have access to mental health services. The statistics on World Health Organization show that in low and middle-income countries, more than 75% of people with mental disorders receive no treatment for their condition at all. It also depends on the mentality of people in different counties. For example, in Ukraine the majority still believes that asking for phycological help, like going to a psychologist, is a shame. However, mental health is the sphere of life which is important to work on.

This year the problem became even more severe due to Covid-19 pandemic, which has an effect on mental health of everyone. Even not being infected, many people feel stress, fear and worry in the context of the pandemic. Our normal life has been modified according to new standards. We are experiencing the restriction of moving, interacting with other people in order to slow down the spread of the virus.

This year we faced a new experience of the lockdown. It is supposed that home represents a feeling of security and love in most families. However, there are families with a low standard of living, poor conditions and unpleasant mental environment. Because of the lockdown and restrictions of movement, all the family members stayed together in closed space and the level of violence has raised. The Deputy Director of ‘CHILDLINE 1098’ India, announced that India saw a 50% increase in the calls received on helpline for children since the lockdown began. It points out the problem of increasing number of children who became victims in their own homes. It refers not only to the physical violence, but mental one as well. In the situation when both or one of the parents has alcohol or drugs addiction, there is phycological pressure in the family, parents arguing all the time, children observing that or being a part of the process, all of this creates mental problems. Even those families that had normal environment at home before the lockdown, experienced stress being locked for a long time with the same people in the common closed space. During the lockdown the number of poor families increased because they didn’t have daily wages, it led to frustration and helplessness. Such feelings ended up in violence towards children, which resulted in depression, anxiety and even suicide among children.

One more issue arises when it comes to education during the lockdown. All the schools and universities offered lessons online to the students. But it is impossible for children from low-income families to take such lessons, because they basically don’t have access to online material to study. And those families who do have, they encounter the difficulties in communication between parents and children. In the case of distant education, parents have to spend a lot of time with their children to help them with new material and homework. Many people don’t have enough knowledge or patience for that and it ends up in yelling and psychological outbreaks.

So, if average families who live in places with all the basic needs provided have such issues, just think of the isolated Roma settlements that don’t have electricity, water, public transport and food to eat. Most of Roma people don’t have regular jobs and get money from the gray economy activities, which means during the lockdown they can’t work “from home”. Children can’t attend online lessons because most of them don’t have computers, Internet connection and even books. Physical and phycological violence is also spread in Roma families, towards both children and women. Number of families don’t have medical insurance, which means they have no access to medical treatment. On the top of that, Covid-19 added more stress and hard times to all of those Roma families who struggle for living every day. It all creates harmful environment and numerous mental challenges.

Finally, we should raise awareness that taking care of the mental health is vital and shouldn’t be considered as shame. In the modern society of forced perfection and positivity people feel afraid to stand out and talk about problems even to their friends. Asking for psychological help should be a normal thing, especially at the time of Covid-19. We all have to be aware of all the consequences Covid-19 brings to avoid the increase of the mental disease cases.