00:00Health challenges, including those relating to non-communicable diseases, can spawn mental health conditions.
00:06That's according to Dr. Margaret Naked Chatter, who says that it adds to those who are already battling mental health issues
00:13from adverse childhood experiences, genetic problems, economic issues, and so on.
00:19Why at this point in our history is it becoming, as some of you would imagine, worse, or more and more we're getting this?
00:26And I feel ever since COVID-19 happened, we have not really addressed the fallout of what COVID-19 did to our society.
00:36In that regard, she mentions the lockdowns and the economic stress, including the increased rate of unemployment.
00:43And people report mental illness as increasing. All of the reports show more than 140% since the pandemic.
00:53That's very, very high. So when we look at what's happening, is our country at risk?
00:59We're looking also at the financial strain. Some people have never gotten back on their horses, as it were, as regards their jobs.
01:07On another note, the psychologist says the cycle of bullying can lead to intimate partner violence.
01:12She states that culturally, oppression was internalized, as victims could not speak out against colonial heads.
01:18According to Naked Chatterer, that implosion is being seen in relationships.
01:22They don't take it out on the boss, or they don't take it out on people who they know could act or react or come down on them or assert.
01:31So they implode and they take it out on persons who they know are weaker, can't respond, who possibly are relying on them for certain economic circumstances.
01:41She says some men also have another issue where they usually process ending a relationship as rejection and a challenge to their masculinity.
01:50They see that as humiliation. You don't want me, I ain't got nobody else.
01:54And again, that internalization of issues, rather than talking about it, rather than making sense of what that partner has said, why that relationship is not working.
02:07It's not about possibly they don't love you. Many women love their partners, but they don't like them.
02:13And we have to understand that dynamic. They don't like those behaviors.
02:17They don't like the fact that they're not supported. They don't like the fact that they are constantly subjected to abuse.
02:23And she says some men are reluctant to take the steps to fix those problems.
02:29Nakia Chatur also highlights that access to mental health care services can be a challenge for vulnerable people, whether it's the elderly or the impoverished.
02:37She's calling on people to be their neighbor's keeper and report incidents of abuse.
02:42And as for people in her own profession.
02:45We have to be people who care. We're not in it just for the money. We're in it to help.
02:50And unfortunately, psychiatrists and psychologists out there are not doing the maximum that they should be doing.
02:57Dr. Nakia Chatur has a free mental health service on the Ministry of Health's online platform, FindKTT, called the Crisis Intervention Team.
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