Let’s Take Care Of Our Mental Health

Over the last months, there have been campaigns from different organisations and individuals to end domestic violence, more particularly geared towards the safety and protection of women and children.

The 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence (GBV) started on November 25 and will run until December 10, 2020, under the theme ‘Orange the World: Fund, Respond, Prevent, Collect’.

GBV continues to be one of the biggest challenges we face as a country. Reports continue to show an alarming increase in cases of violence.

Just recently The Monitor published an article of a five-year old boy that succumbed to injuries inflicted on him by his 25-year-old stepfather. There have been numerous reports of women being killed by their intimate partners over disputes that could have been resolved by asking for professional help. Why is it that some members of society resort to murder when things get tough? Are we an angry nation as captured in the World Happiness Report, which ranked Botswana at 148 out of 156 UN member States?

Are we so bad at channelling our emotions so much that as soon as a problem emerges, we quickly decide to use violence instead of addressing it amicably?

Last week Sunday, a road rage issue turned deadly along the A1 road. The incident according to eyewitnesses left many in shock. The story as told by eye witnesses shows that the deceased and the driver of the other car got into a scuffle, which unfortunately ended up with one of them pulling out a knife and stabbing the other to death. The suspected killer is reported to have scathed the car the deceased was travelling in, which resulted in the mirror of the other car being damaged. Ideally, both cars were indeed supposed to stop and address the issue and call the police to ascertain the damage and assess how and when it would be fixed, but unfortunately the man who allegedly drove recklessly seemed to be on a warpath, as he stabbed the other to death. Where are we going as Batswana? Car accidents happen on a daily basis that is why we have channels to follow once we find ourselves in such predicaments.

We as humans have our own characters, and it is our responsibility to seek help when we find it difficult to deal with certain emotions. We have clinical psychologists who can help assess, diagnose, and treat mental, emotional, and behavioural disorders. There is absolutely nothing wrong with seeking counselling! Let’s stop this madness and work on nurturing our mental health and wellbeing for the good of all, and most importantly, for posterity.