THE BATTLE OF MINDS: IS IT NOT JUST SOCIO-POLITICAL, RELIGIOUS AND CULTURAL MADNESS?

BY


JACOB WAISWA

OF

INTEGRATED MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES –UGANDA (IMHS-UG)
waiswajacobo@yahoo.co.uk
imhs_ug@yahoo.com
http://www.situationhealthanalysis.blogspot.com/

A series of aspects could influence well-being -that may be individual vulnerabilities to extreme challenges, unhealthy relationships, past stressors and current mental toxics in the environment or negative experiences, harmful cultural practices, and bad politics of the country and self-defeating social norms. These could threaten individual and community survival.

However, exploration of socio-politics, socio-culture and religion and well-being could be most relevant today, since they dominate much of the cases linked to poor mental health in Uganda.

There exist practices in religions and cultures that are very harmful to community health and productivity of a nation, yet ignored just because some people believe actors represent God on Earth.

Central in politics like the war of words and at times using stature to intimidate and threaten violence or even act violently has led to fear, loss of loved ones, and refugee incidences. In its play, the most powerful, forceful and dominant celebrates while unforceful, gentle and peaceful take the victims role.

They, by any means, use aggression to force their motives as to merely conquer, rate power possesed and at times, just to humiliate and reduce what could be fear of a percieved power-rivally or possible competitors.

Just within a single unit in the community, it could be horrifying yet unnoticed by authorities as people begin to sort of “eat” up each other like grasshoppers. Authorities, as usual, could only come in at the advent of a tragedy. It could not be shocking, for example, to hear that the Buddo Junior incident had warning signs overtime.

To them there must be an on-going violent or aggressive contest until they (aggressors) confirm a kind of victory out of the carefully selected confrontational move. The kind of move which may be to deprive, de-face, marginalise, cause and sustain misery, constantly bully to ensure suffocation and discomfort, destroy property, character-assasinate or even kill –resulting from perceived rivally, irrational fears, mistrusts and suspicions.

They belief their victims are serious competitors to what they strive for so much that anything possible must be worked out to discredit, damage, deface and pull down the opponent then. In other words, they hate fair competition with those they perceive as rivals, even when the victim is not actually involved. Their imaginations could be so wild that they could think about themselves as small gods around and worthy judges for anyone.

Relentless effort would be spend at using all it takes to bring perceived rivals down or frustrate their progress so that they are undisputed kind of bulls in a kraal. Inadequacies held in their early development could have led them to think that others never recognize them and so spend the rest of their lives frustrating other’s efforts to prosper.

The intention would be to distract and divert attention of others from elsewhere to them. Recognition as relevant to society could be satisfying to them. They could also want others to be like them or follow them while those with painful experiences seek healing by having others share in it.

Therefore, as if making a point at them, they (aggressors) rush out to begin making the lives of others difficult and do everything possible to undo their progress, until their position becomes either unthreatened or undisputed. Now imagine if such a fellow was a country’s leader.

They could chose the biggest and most productive part of their time of the day struggling to make victims life as difficult as possible, where open murder may only come not just by accident but through some sort of hard work, whose success too brings about tremendous satisfaction for the aggressor. It would be a matter of dreaming about a “threat”, imagining it or being informed by any member of a rivaling group.

Energy reserves go to deadly plays like daily hobbies to tease and bully. Different environment would have such kinds of people causing varied degrees of mental and physical torture to their victims.

It can be very painful to the victim, as this could lead to broken self-esteem, lost confidence and lost focus on occupational and life goals, forced quitting of work and the toxic environment, delayed achievement and hopelessness, while under extreme circumstances suicide may result.

Survivors of such dangerous actions and consequences could only be those, who show high intellect and non-violence maneuvers. Unfortunately, though safe either way, they annoy the aggressor more as his satisfying need to see misery or pain would not be evident.

Much as the health sector may not do much to save the situation, individuals could come up with some kind of first aid to themselves to help protect and nurture values that guide us into a health and prosperous future.

Interestingly, some behaviorists argue that such kinds of people as aggressors and their victims must exist to make society we live in complete with all kinds of people. The differences people show would make life not only challenging but also stimulating for the better. On the other hand, there must be good people among the varying types to control excesses and damaging effect of extremely aggressive types.

Nevertheless, extreme show of tactics and skill, non-violently, everyday in retaliation would remain safest yet rewarding strategy rather than counter the fellow with similar amount of force.

By non-violence means, we would consider actions, as ignoring or refusal to acknowledge, non-cooperation, denunciation and letting him or her know what infliction he or she would be trying to cause and keeping distance away from them. As a result, their dangerous actions would seem unsatisfying to them, and could soon re-think and change their actions for better ones.

Surely, they (aggressor), with time, could develop a humanist thinking on their part, as the ex-victim celebrates victory for the unaltered life or golden values by the fellow. India’s Mahatma Ghandi in the struggle for the country’s independence used the strategy. Even in the much-read book, the Bible, Paul’s persecutory mind was broken and soon changed for the better.

It could be, at times, dangerous to those under oppression. For example, Martin Luther King, who courageously struggled against racial segregation and discrimination, met death at the hands of an assassin before he could see the fruits of his enduring fight.

This, therefore, would mean that the oppressed must take up safety measures such that he or she lives to see the fruits of victory. Victory would definitely come to those who are in the right and true path to it.

Even in modern day political struggles, the most tactful and skillful would always take the day. When Americans invaded Somalia, we saw how victory was not just to do with arms technology, well-fed and physically well-built soldiers. Instead, we saw the unexpected happen against the elite US Marines along with their latest technologies and resource base at the time.

In Uganda, most people would laugh if the NRM cadres said that the opposition political parties would never rule Uganda. This could be so, even without the bush war element to retain power.

The government seems to have changed their method of retaining power from armed means to mild militant engagements, intellectual debating and the ballot while ensuring that their action plans stretch to the infinite.

This could be very true unless the opposition side sits together in strategic meetings every week –accompanied with actions to reduce the gap and ensure leveled ground by 2011 general elections.

For now, the Uganda opposition is a little bit behind, considering election fatigue, defeatist syndrome and poverty in political parties –as people would no longer want to waste their time at the polls. Instead, they would want to focus on their businesses.

On the other hand, the voters on the incumbent side would be much encouraged to vote and ensure status quo. Their motivation are the facts that they have been in power for so many years, successfully retained it through the ballot and therefore, could retain it by similar means in future contests.

It is upon this background that we may not find it surprising if Dr. Besigye or any other opposition candidate failed to add new figures to the previous ones. We could see figures shock the opposition, unless they address the problem of elections fatigue and political hopelessness, deal with instances of lies as a de-campaigning or discrediting tool, and personal as well as electorate fears.

They must keep busy day and night in their political laboratory. It would no longer be a matter of sensual responses and reactions as it were in previous general elections. It would be challenging, but the opposition too must adapt very quickly.

Society, too, has different kinds of people: the conformist, the non-conventional and the conventional stylists. The incumbent and his fans would tend to be more of un-conventional in their activities towards election victory, while the opposition political parties and their voters take the categories of conformists and conventional types, which too is simply a blessing to the ruling regime.

The political-religious oppositional political parties with their last resort being for God and my country could only win God’s favor to enter the gates of heaven, but not voters. Yet, by nature, we all need to progress at all costs.

During pre-independent Africa, nationalists used to emphasize and preach freedom from oppression –including poverty, respect of human dignity or rights and from manipulative and insensitive actions. Although they overcame abuses and ceremonially celebrated them, the lessons of using greater effort and courage to succeed and “fly” above “thorns” should mean most to us.

Similarly, in communities where we live, there exist people, whose pride yet at times baseless, leads them into blindly colonizing others locally and subjecting them to a series of bullying sessions, which deprives the hostage of the right mind to self-development.

Some people, societies and countries could want to show uninvited superiority figure-ships to the unwelcoming others. While under extreme circumstances, especially if they develop irrational fears and internal insecurities, they could be as dangerous as Hitler or Amin. Imagine having a modern Nazis amidst us.

This is unacceptable and concerned members of our community must not tolerate them. And, of course, the unconcerned could be such societies that evolved into the kinds that do not respect life and talks of peace, democracy, human rights, development, and tomorrow’s world are alien to them.

As a remedy, communities must reject these kinds of people early and stop them from attaining positions of responsibility such that they do not wreck havoc in future for Uganda in particular and the world in general to suffer.

Since they generate lots of energy to burn away, with extreme stimulations within them, they could be oriented into peaceful but energy-burning games like rugby, wrestling and boxing.

Moreover, those who are already wrecking havoc at any level need suitable answers using a mixture of approaches as appropriately as possible such that we do not miss the good intentions of our politics, social, cultures and religious set-ups.

To save our cherished values for dignified living, concerned members of the community must stand firm, be courageous and take self-liberation actions. Any vision for emancipations must have elements of courage and confidence to drive through to self-discovery and prosperity.

Even the worlds of entrepreneurship, business or commerce hold a view that successful project is one, whose management does not fear risk. Freedom from contemptuous treatments, preservation of dignifying values and human rights to progress, too, would be worth achieving at any cost. It is the same concept that humanists, peace lovers, freedom fighters and pro-liberation revolutionaries hold.

The question of getting oneself out of politically and culturally dehumanizing situations could be one of the most nonnegotiable issues, as this would help reduce cases of unproductive and underachieving among members of our communities.

While those found languishing in oppressive states must be helped come out of it; recover, redefine them-selves so that they too can live in peace, harmony and in the right environment for good health and development.

Identifiable cultures and religious faith as agents of terror; with contemptuous beliefs, with intents to divide, cause hatred, create warring states, and deprive others of right to live and prosper -through violence and robbery, must be abandoned as first safety measure for oneself and the community. This could help make founders feel too irrelevant to remain in service, while continued tolerance to these individuals and groups could be like a kissing a crocodile.