If you look for the causes of an illness, you almost always come across the point "psychological reasons". And somehow it is easy to imagine that a person with all kinds of problems and vices is also more susceptible to illness. Some of you may even have experienced this yourself: if you are struggling with relationship problems, for example, the days with migraines or feeling unwell quickly become more frequent. Financial bottlenecks are often coupled with physical complaints. Whereas happy people fall ill much less often.
Mental well-being therefore also plays a central role in our physical health, which is why the WHO (World Health Organization) has defined the improvement of "mental health" as a further goal. The WHO's definition of mental health is: "A state of well-being in which the individual is able to fulfill his or her capabilities, cope with the normal stresses of life, work productively and fruitfully and contribute to his or her community."
These problems cover a wide range: From temporary heartache in adolescence and exam anxiety, to serious existential fears, drug or alcohol addiction, everything is included. Depending on the country, culture and age, the problems occur at different rates. A study from 2009 (Krahl, 2009) shows that around half a billion of the world's population suffers from psychiatric disorders. The majority of sufferers live in developing countries. However, most patients there do not receive adequate treatment - many are stigmatized, prejudiced and marginalized. A fundamentally better care structure, including in the area of mental health problems, is therefore essential and called for by the WHO. We have already reported on the topic of the human psyche in the past as part of our Planetary Health series.
As we have of course also recognized this problem, we want to make our contribution here. As part of our projects, our local doctors and helpers therefore always try to take a holistic view of their patients and not focus purely on the medical symptoms. In many cases, this is necessary at first, but with children in particular, funny stories, small acts of kindness or simply "giving them a hug" often help just as much to forget the acute pain. For mothers and fathers, on the other hand, the focus is on listening, giving encouragement and hope.
It is a tremendous gift that our employees in BoliviaMyanmar and Tanzania have these skills - to see what the patients need apart from medication - and use them. And we are very grateful that your help makes it possible for us to enable these wonderful local people to do their work.
Literature: Krahl, W. (2009): "Mental health in developing countries - mental illness is an underestimated risk factor". In: Aviation Medicine - Tropical Medicine - Travel Medicine - FTR 2009; 16(1): 30-34 DOI: 10.1055/s-0029-1216268
