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Mental disorder still a taboo

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asma alam:
Biomedical approaches, however, should not unduly dominate discussions. Mental health cannot be treated in isolation. Social attitudes towards mental health shape how communities react but also influence the way individuals respond. As the government and medical profession reflect on medical and legal frameworks in the context of the sharper global focus on mental health, it is important to set the issues in a broader context.
Many contemporary challenges affect a society’s overall mental health, and this is true for Bangladesh. Wide-ranging issues, from overall happiness of the society to individual emotional welfare, should be understood in the context of what is happening in the society overall. The stresses and discontents linked to modernization have special importance, as people cope with upheavals and with the manifold uncertainties that accompany the winds of change. The large roles of migration and the garment industry, for example, affect how people understand their very identities. The questions that arise are economic, social, and psychological but also spiritual. Coping mechanisms include positive transformations but they also can take the form of heightened domestic violence and ironic responses like marrying off girls at younger ages. Responding to the appeals of various forms of extremism are a way in which some people respond to the disquieting changes they see around them.
The Forum in Dhaka concluded that religious institutions need to be an integral part of the national response to contemporary challenges of mental health. That means engaging religious actors like imams and preachers, learning from positive programs and experience (the l’Arche program in Bangladesh is one example). Religious practice is an ancient response to turbulent times but it can also take new forms in modernizing society. Neglecting the vital role of spirituality and of religious institutions would be a grave mistake.
By: Katherine Marshall
https://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/posts/depressed-or-spirit-possessed-reassessing-mental-health-in-bangladesh

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