Progress being made but more awareness on mental health needed say young activists
View(s):Last month was observed as mental health awareness month. With the ongoing pandemic bringing mental health into the spotlight a number of online campaigns were conducted throughout the month to honour mental health awareness. However in Sri Lanka, more needs to be done according to young mental health activists.
Nathali Devinka, an active mental health advocate, agrees that there certainly has been progress in terms opening up and initiating conversations to encourage more people to talk openly about their struggles and seek professional help.
“With more and more psychologists, therapists and mental health advocates opening up on social media has certainly instigated more discussions,” Nathali says. “But I still feel these conversations are mostly done in English reaching only a limited group of people.”
Despite efforts, there are still people who are in denial that mental health issues exist, or they might be hiding it due to the stigma, she continued. We have definitely progressed and efforts need to be appreciated, but we have such a long way to go as a community.
Anthony who is invested in the subject of mental health, has a more positive outlook on things. Living in Colombo, he says that he has seen a steady increase awareness in terms of mental health.
“It’s not as openly discussed as I’d like it to be, but it’s getting there.” He says. “I’ve seen workshops and initiatives carried out at numerous places. Offices also now have counselors in case employees need help and even educational institutions have been improving, barring a few exceptions.
For Matheesha Gunarathne, who is not actively in the field, the situation is different. His opinion is that any progress that has been made is minor and not substantial. “I see people trying to commit themselves to spreading awareness. But still there’s less action actually happening from people who have been made aware of it,” he concludes.
Meanwhile, for Thithira, studying in Kandy, mental health is still a topic that needs more awareness according to him. While he and his friends educate themselves through the internet, and his school promotes active discussions, he shares that this is not the norm. Outside the Western Province, the topic is still more taboo than anything else.
“It’s not easy to reach out to those away from the urbanized areas,” Matheesha says, adding that he has also felt most of the efforts being focused on urbanized areas. “But it should reach them too.”
“Urbanized districts have more access to resources such as the internet, social media and technology in general, which may mean that they would know when to seek help.”
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For example, a person in a rural area might be having depression or suicidal tendencies, but they may think that that is just part of their life and live with it, whereas if they had access to a counsellor, they could share how they feel, and then understand what makes them feel that way and then learn how to healthily cope with it.
Nathali agreed with them for the most part, but also pointed out that it’s not always the case. “I know there are so many amazing people out there who have done some remarkable work around Sri Lanka,” she tells us adding that “while there are such remarkable efforts being made, we also need to reach the Sinhala/ Tamil speaking community to make an impact.”
“ Whether it’s a forum, a discussion, books or social media campaigns we need to make sure it’s trilingual. We need to make sure we are reaching the entire Sri Lankan community and not just restrict it to Colombo,” Nathali observed.
As for what the country can do to improve, everyone was in agreement: Acceptance.
“Honestly as someone who is currently on medication for multiple mental health conditions, I have had my share of bitter experiences with psychiatrists, therapists and also with the community when I publish or post-forums,” Nathali shared with us.
“What’s wrong is how society portrays mental illnesses and then attempts to push it under the carpet by using phrases like ‘Why are you depressed? you have nothing to be depressed about” or “just smile, don’t think about being depressed, and you won’t be depressed’. If it were that easy, then psychiatry would be a dead medical profession,” Anthony adds.
“Generations have grown up with a less aware view culturally, and it’s slow to change,” Matheesha agrees. “We should try focusing our efforts on the younger generation who are more receptive to change.”
Information about mental health is readily available on our devices which we are so hooked on to 24/7, Nathali emphasized. It just takes that little effort. But we’re under the impression that if it doesn’t directly affect us, then it’s not our problem.
Another aspect that was heavily touched on was family. Many were of the view that family based awareness programmes would help a great deal, as well as the normalization of mental health discussions within the family.
Discussing about improvement in general, everyone agreed that the most improvement was felt by the younger, tech savvy generation.
“The difference is evident on social media. People are more accepting and attentive on social media platforms encouraging more and more people to open up with their experiences,” Nathali stated.
“The current generation, yes. The previous generation (our parents and grandparents) not so much, and in some cases, none at all,” said Anthony. “Because we’re the generation that learned all this by being exposed to it via social media or through physical experiences, we are aware and more accepting of people undergoing mental illness.”
“There are small signs I guess,” Matheesha notes the difference in the general community. “It’s certainly increasing when you come down the age spectrum. While the older generations remain somewhat ignorant or unable to grasp this, as it comes down all the way to the young adults I see more acceptance.”
However, the younger generation is still very much young, and the community is, while globally connected, still limited in the economy.
“Is the stigma still very strong out there?” Nathali asks us. “Sadly, I think it is.”