How bleak the future must look for them? The lives of loved ones lost and the grief of not being able to say final goodbyes in these times have an enormous effect on our community. My chest tightens as I being to think about all the wellness centres, spas and hotels in our industry that have closed indefinitely and how many people have lost their jobs in services and hospitality and possibly their homes too. For those who have been separated from loved ones, we feel your heartbreak and for parents who have children overseas like many parents in Africa do, these are tough times. For those caught up in another country since lockdown we can only imagine how your anxiety levels have grown and how homesick you must feel. It all depends on perspective and mindset. Some days are good and some days are better than others. We are all in this together, no one has been spared from COVID 19, it’s consequences nor its misery. Yes I know, we all have a story to tell and we should tell it or at the very least talk about it. I hear you silently sigh as you read this. So how are you actually doing ? Are you really okay? How is your team coping ? More importantly what is your current state of mindset and do you still have your positive attitude? How have your future plans been affected with this pandemic? The mental health workforce is a tenth of the global average (0.9 professionals per 100,000 population vs. In Europe depression has been treated for many years and there are enough psychologists and re-sources to support but what about our countries in Africa, where health systems are not robust? Ac-cording to the WHO only 21% of African countries have recent mental health legislation compared to a global average of 40%, and only 27% have resourced policies, compared to 53% in the rest of the world. Our family and friends whether extended or not form part of our core, it is our community and our culture means being together and these times may seem even more overwhelmingly challenging. As an African People, we are simply not made for isolation because we like to celebrate and cry together, or just come together at every opportunity given. The natural progression of isolation, travel restrictions, social distancing, the lack of touch, cancelled events, loss of jobs, homes, no hugs but masks, lack of freedom, separation from families, friends and loved ones and in the worst cases even death have become additional triggers. Mental wellness is a sensitive topic and more and more people need support, but do not talk about this taboo subject.Įmotional struggles seem to be highlighted with this pandemic. Sometimes just a quick call to a friend or getting into the fresh air, walking, exercising, or listening to your favourite music or just getting a good night’s sleep can help, but some-times you might need something more. If we know what triggers this we can learn how to deal with it. Yes we can be grateful and we can be happy but some days can become an overwhelming awful state of unhappiness which can descend upon us due to circumstances. A problem shared is a problem halved we are told. I am sure that many of us have experienced down days during this pandemic and we needed to un-bundle and share our problems as we learned to talk and communicate more via zoon, over the phone and through WhatsApp. Yes we joked about, “FINE,” but we knew our friend needed us more during these times. Unfortunately mental health is still very stigmatized and people don’t talk about these issues of feeling depressed having anxiety or plain just being sad. The reality is mental health needs to be supported and like physical health we need exercises to help. If people don’t have any-one to talk to nor anyone who can understand how they are feeling, depression can set in. We took this as a warning bell that she was any-thing but fine in the true sense of the word. I think this combination of words fit the elegant word, “FINE” rather well during this pandemic time.Ī friend would use “FINE” when she was not feeling great. The acronym for “FINE” is well remembered with the words: freaked out, insecure, neurotic and emotional. ![]() We have answered a question in the hope that people will leave us alone. I am sure we have all used the word “FINE” with an ulterior motive to get people off our backs.
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