Ensure brain is healthy, Gordon Harrison pleads
CHILDREN’S ADVOCATE Diahann Gordon Harrison explained that all else will fail if the brain, which is among the key organs responsible for the body’s proper functioning, is not in good health.
She was expounding on the expression that there is “no true health without good mental health” in her address at the #YourMindMatters project’s Adolescent Mental Health Conference.
“We all have a mind, don’t we? From birth all the way through to death and so what that means is that the mental aspect of our existence never leaves us, and it requires care just as the outer parts of our body requires care,” she said.
In addition, she emphasised the importance of paying close attention to our mental well-being, de-stigmatising issues that are typically frowned upon, and learning to be at ease with the realisation that mental health problems do not always have to reach extreme levels; they can also include issues with anxiety, feelings of sadness, and losing control of one’s anger.
“So, we have to know when to unplug and step back. We have to know when to nurture our souls and our mental being so that the physical aspect of what we want to achieve is achievable with great and positive measure,” she said.
Gordon also provided some data on the effectiveness rate of SafeSpot, a free 24-hour hotline for children and teenagers operated by the Office of the Children’s Advocate in collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ).
A total of 2, 345 calls from kids and teenagers across the island were made to the hotline between January and December 2022. In the following year 3,201 connections were made.
It was noted that the most common age groups which made contact were those between 13 to 15 years and 16 to 17 years, with more girls making contact than boys.
CALLS ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH
“Now what were they calling about? Overwhelmingly, the primary issue was that they were calling about themselves. Not about friends, not about mommy and daddy, but about issues that they were having and the number one issue that they were calling about is mental health,” she said.
Gordon continued that the sub-categories of their mental health issues were concerns around their own well-being and support and the absence of it and concerns around that.
“They complained about stress, they also had suicidal thoughts and actual suicidal attempts. They also expressed concerns about emotional distress with a great emphasis on fear and anxiety,” she said.
“It means that our children are talking to us directly and it’s time that we listen and understand that they, like other members and cohorts in our society, have a mind and their mind matters and their mental health issues need support,” she said.