Mental Health – – – – Part 1

Yeah; been to the psychologist a few times; not because I had a few nuts, bolts, valves and couplings loose or amiss upstairs. Purely because I needed to learn techniques to cope with the usual and out of ordinary challenges a first generation migrant faces when settling into these competitive parts of the world with zero family support.  The ‘joys’ of raising a young family, the twisters and agony I personally faced in getting to where I am today are not the mainstay of this blog. I’d save that for another day. The issue I wish to write about is mental health which I think is still a taboo topic. Society tends to whisper on this issue and walks on egg shells than talk and address it openly. Australia and New Zealand are no different in my opinion. My opinions on NZ are based on my work place experiences nine years ago.

My experience with the Indian scenario is that there is generally no pussyfooting in using a single terminology for any lop-sided human behaviour which can be ‘Paagal’+explicit swear word (Hindi) or ‘Thikka’+explicit swear word (Telugu) so on and so forth.

When I watched Margo Kidder in Superman playing Lois Lane in ’79, as a young adolescent I was mighty besotted with her. She pleasantly troubled my young mind back then. I can say the same for Parveen Babi a leading Bollywood movie star of 70’s and 80’s who by my definition was a beauty/sexiness unmatched. The present day stars in my opinion cannot match her glamour even by 10%, despite the wide availability of skilled knife and scalpel services. Margot as Lois Lane fit the role to a tee and Parveen stole hearts without mercy. Margot was hit by bi-polar disorder and Parveen picked up Schizophrenia along the way.

Babi was interviewed by Shekhar Suman in early 2000’s and I screamed to my laptop “Stop Shekhar! Just stop!!” Babi was obviously making a fool of herself due to her condition and Shekhar kept egging her for more stupidity to audience’s peels of laughter; all at Babi’s expense on national TV. Babi’s hallucinations were so intense at the height of her illness that she accused the great Bachchan of trying to kill her on several occasions!! Babi succumbed to her illness in 2005 un-cared to an overdose, undiscovered, dead for a week in her apartment. The way the industry saw her off was pitiful. I cannot help but comment that Bachchan who starred with her in several hit movies (and supposedly may have had a fling with her during their interactions) did not say boo during her condition and post her death. I respect him greatly but he slid right down in my esteem when all this occurred.

While Bi-polar is more easily manageable compared to Schizo, the point I make is the manner in which Margot on the other side of the world made a terrific recovery. It was possible because of the relatively better educated and socially conscious society that America is. I do not know how Americas treat their mentally ill but Margot’s story seems to indicate that she was well taken care of. Margot lost it in 1996 and at a stage went missing for four days, then institutionalized. She declared making a full recovery (seriously one never recovers – but maintains a stable condition managing the beast well) in 2007. Today at 69 she is an active and a contributing member of the society because of the understanding and support she would have received.

My experience in NZ has been that the public sector is much more supportive but if the cat got out of the bag in the private sector, every effort is made to ease out the employee from the org. Such staff are seen as a drain on the business and its resource. If staff are not savvy w.r.t their rights they tend to play right into the org’s mind play and games. The impact is severe as the sufferer’s condition is well shared by the previous employer with recruiters who are crucial to the sufferer finding suitable future employment.

Fast forward 2008-2018 Australia; times have changed but even today mental health issues are not discussed openly. Discreet support is available but on a hush-hush basis (understandable to an extent as privacy needs to be guarded). But encouraging staff to openly delve into issues through education and picking early symptoms of affected colleagues for intervention is still lacking. Largely support is individualized and openness and education is deficient. Calling out staff/management behaviours that can lead to mental issues is encouraged but the supporting and enabling systems are sketchy in my view. In some orgs. this could be lip service and a veneer on the deeper culture that exists within.

Slivers of light are many though. I read of a high ranking employee in a significant organisation sending his staff an e mail informing that he wished to take a few days off to sort out his mental health! The macho Packer recently checking into rehab in such an open manner is fantastic! It was disappointing that Mariah Carey divulged her bi-polar disorder after so many years (I can imagine the tumultuous relationship Packer and Carey would have had in their recent but short fling!!). It was extremely heartening to see Deepika Padukone come out openly on her experience with the black dog. I cannot help but observe that Deepika’s openness should have encouraged many others in Bollywood and India in general in sharing their stories to reinforce and convey a message that it is OK to be affected by the beast; and it is possible to overcome the condition through support and persistence. The deafening silence and lack of willingness by many high profilers is potentially detrimental to the society addressing the issue.

Education that mental illnesses exist in several forms and how they impact a person’s behaviour need to be drummed out there. Schizo, uni and bipolar disorders, anorexia, borderline personality disorder, Autism, etc. are all as different as the chicken and the goat or a rabbit and a hawk. The disorders are universally related to faulty neurotransmitters. Care during one’s formative years and recognizing disposition to genetic risk factors are extremely vital. A single critical factor that helps one out of their situation is the quality of support. Family (primary carer) and the medical professionals are the two vitally important factors. Medication is only part of the solution. Patience, persistence and ‘in it to win it’ attitude is non-negotiable.

Finally to conclude this write up, I hate qualifying my blog; but would want to say that I will risk being viewed as a pseudo-intellectual on this matter. I am happy to take that on the chin. All I wish to say is education, openness, fairness, understanding, support, therapy, medication, not treating the sufferers as outcasts and with stigma are key to successful maintenance of mental health conditions. Each stated factor needs calibration as necessary at each phase of recovery and maintenance.

I have not delved into the matter of drug abuse and its impacts on mental illness which is a major issue. The preventive actions parents and society in general must take to minimise the risks from this deadly combination will be excessively preachy for this note.

Persist, love, care and never give up!