Not recovered

Concern pandemic effects underestimated, mental health issues not taken seriously By Jenique Belgrave and Sheria Brathwaite President of the Barbados Society of Psychology Ronald Pope is not satisfied that mental health and wellness are being taken seriously in this country even after the mental toll COVID-19 pandemic took on people. And an Anglican priest has suggested that the lingering effects of the pandemic may be more serious than is being acknowledged. In an interview with Barbados TODAY, Pope said that despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has only been a slight increase in the number of people seeking counselling services and most of those were women. He lamented that it was often only those experiencing mental health challenges or people close to them who considered the issue to be significant. “Other persons in society don’t take it seriously. They see it as mainly psychological disorders where you have to be admitted to the Psychiatric Hospital. They see it from the point of view where they don’t see depression as being serious or some of the other illnesses like eating disorders being serious, and these are mental health issues, these are mental health problems. “Even teenagers that are going through adolescence have mental health problems as well, and persons don’t see it. They just say, ‘Oh, he is just acting up’, but some of them actually have mental health issues while going through development, and persons just overlook these things,” the psychologist said. In the last week, Barbados has recorded three apparent suicides, one male and two females, in separate incidents. Anglican priest Reverend Senator Dr John Rogers, one of three heads of faith-based organisations interviewed by Barbados TODAY suggested that some people were still trying to cope in the post-COVID-19 environment, especially having felt anxious and depressed during the height of the pandemic. “We know people had a very rough time coping during COVID-19 and because the country is opened up, I believe that many people will get the impression that all is normal again. But the reality is that there may be many people who have not been able to resolve some of the anxieties and challenges that they would have had during the COVID-19 period,” he said. “A lot of people lost jobs and their lives were truncated in some way or another in terms of how they thought they would have progressed and developed. We also must be very cognisant that a lot of lives were lost during COVID-19 that people did not have the opportunity to mourn in the way that we normally would.” He therefore encouraged Barbadians to be their brother’s keeper and be a listening ear to those who may be experiencing a tough time. Reverend Dr Lucille Baird of Mount Zion’s Missions and Reverend Dr Adrian Smith of the Cavalry and Gracehill Moravian Church, meanwhile, urged Barbadians not to give up on life as there was always hope. “I’m troubled as a pastor that too many persons are moving away from godliness and from Christian values and that’s when you come to a place of hopelessness,” Reverend Baird said. “When someone comes to the point where they are prepared to commit suicide, it tells me that for some reason, they’ve reached a point of hopelessness. But regardless of if we are church goers or whether we are persons of any particular faith, there’s always hope for tomorrow if we can look to God.” Expressing similar sentiments, Reverend Smith said social media had a big role to play in how people viewed their life situations. “Whatever it is that you’re going through, doesn’t matter how bad, you need to fight through. I know that some people, and especially some young people, are scared and afraid, especially on matters of being embarrassed. “When things happen on social media, you feel like the whole world knows and therefore you don’t know how to handle and manage that but we have to encourage persons to talk to someone and let them know there is a way to keep fighting. I would encourage persons to fight; fight through the depression, fight through the embarrassment, just fight through,” he said. Meanwhile, saying that mental health, depression and suicide are often linked, Pope urged Barbadians to pay attention to warning signs that friends or family members were in distress. “Some of the signs are that the person might talk about suicide a lot and say ‘I wish I was dead’ or ‘I wish I wasn’t born’ or buy things that you could use for suicide, randomly withdrawing from social contacts, wanting to be left alone and being preoccupied with death and violence…. “In addition, not being interested in food, using drugs, and engaging in reckless behaviours,” he explained, though acknowledging that there were some people who did not display any of these behaviours and appeared to be extremely happy. Pope said his organisation would be seeking to educate the public more on these matters. jeniquebelgrave@barbadostoday.bb sheriabrathwaite@barbadostoday.bb]]>