Mental health key to wellbeing

Of all the assets man must guard jealously, sound mental well being is critical. It is impossible to imagine a world hurtling into the future propelled by questionable thinking and imagination.

 But perhaps it is in earlier years of life that the society must guard mostly against poor mental health. If what leads to poor mental health is let to take root in society, there is no telling what wasteland human prospects could crash into.

Experts warn that poor mental health leads to, among other problems, poor physical health, sedentary lifestyle, trauma, stress and ultimately poor socio-economic status. Even worse, someone suffering from poor health is susceptible to drug and alcohol abuse and denial.

Falling into such a state during one’s most critical formative years means it won’t matter how long one would eventually live, the quality and productivity of life thereafter would be severely compromised.

Youth is a passing stage in the cycle of life, but nonetheless the foundation that supports life into adulthood and old age. Nothing rings truer to ‘choices have consequences’ than the choices young people make.

The cause of depression, though largely avoidable, results from unrealistic dreams and harbouring demands that may not resonate with prevailing circumstances.

Engaging in substance abuse is false consolation. In fact, the impact of substance abuse later in life is detrimental to the mental wellbeing of the addict than we care to know or tell. Another enemy to the search of meaning and purpose to life among the youth is the appetite to search for lewd images on the Internet, movies and salacious content.

Research has shown that pornography gradually pervades all spheres of one’s life to the detriment of the prospects education and vocational training, impart.

Similarly, it does not matter what skills young people acquire through school or college if at the end of it all the ability gathered, goes to waste. Yet from school through to the university, there are hundreds of young persons whose attitude towards care of one’s mental faculties is taken casually or ignored altogether.

The skills and knowledge young people are encouraged to acquire could turn out to be an engagement in futility if our mental well-being is in disarray.

As we reflect on the importance of the just concluded International Youth Day, it is imperative that we save our youth from the kinds of indulgence that would distort their minds. Mental health and healthy emotional adjustment are the wealth of young people.