Sustaining mental health in times of crisis

It is interesting to note that economic growth can cause stress for people in that economy, as we see from increasing numbers of people in our day who suffer from mental disorders in spite of economic prosperity.

China is the latest country that bears testimony to the above claim. In early March 2009, the Chinese government revealed its current number of mental health patients to be as high as 7 percent of the total population, or 100 million people. In addition, for every two minutes since the year 2000, one Chinese person will have committed suicide. This phenomenon can be attributed to an increasing amount of stress present in the Chinese lifestyle due to competition, social pressure and natural catastrophes.

This news also reminds me of Thailand ’s typhoon of stress now gusting to impact a wider area of destruction. Thai people currently face pressures of various types, ranging from economic survival, to broken family and social deterioration struggles. The saddest aspect to this situation is that people can find no way out from such problems when they occur, and ultimately suffer from mental health disorders.

For this reason, besides the promotion of physical exercise, the government should encourage Thai people to care for their mental health on a daily basis. In my FM 102 radio programme, Think differently with Dr Dan Can Do, I have been proposing a government policy to develop self-esteem and a meaningful lifestyle in Thai people for the benefit of coping with life crises. Some of my suggestions are as follows:

Promote the accessibility of counseling services Still at present, there are few counseling services available due to professional counseling not being popular in Thai culture. The government may promote counseling services by building these up to have new value for Thai people, opening new counseling centres and providing counseling services via alternative online or hotline channels.

Encourage community gatherings The government should encourage various community gatherings, and should also provide public spaces where people of similar interest can meet each other and display their talents. This will spread the value of sharing in society and will increase a sense of self-awareness.

Promote public mindedness Thai people should be encouraged to help others in society, because doing good things for others not only makes the recipients feel happy, but will also bring happiness to those who give. People who do good for others will feel that their lives are meaningful, which will reduce their sense of daily stress.

These proposals provide only short-term measures to alleviate stress. However, if taken seriously, implemented countrywide and joined to other measures, such as the promotion of family relationships, they would become solutions capable of helping us deal with this problem without stress!

Dr Kriengsak Chareonwongsak
Senior Fellow, Harvard Kennedy School , Harvard University
kriengsak@kriengsak.com, kriengsak.com, drdancando.com