MENTAL HEALTH: IT IS NOT OKAY NOT TO BE OKAY

I have read several articles on mental health. Most of the mental health service providers seem to be agreeing that ‘it is okay not to be okay.’ Just like in the many normalizations that we have had with different social issues, we seem to be drawing an agreement that it is okay to feel a heavy heart. It is rather a cheap way of addressing a situation. The Centennials would associate with the language because it communicates how they wish it was done, by covering the real problem. The approach is taking a toll in many other spheres where society is expected to compromise on the platform of youth mainstreaming.

The World Health Organization defines mental health as a state of wellbeing in which the individual realizes his or her abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and can contribute to his or her community. Due to the pressures of life, many people are unable to access basic needs like food, shelter, clothing, and healthcare. This is coupled with the intricate nature of activities that one has to undertake to earn a living. This blurs the realization of the individual’s abilities. The individual feels unappreciated because he or she cannot have an achievement besides surviving. With the pile-up of stress, the individual falls for negative coping strategies that worsen their mental health status. The effect of this is an unproductive life and alienation from community contribution.

The approach of one being okay even if they are not feeling okay gives a false impression, yet cognitively, the person is disturbed. The expression seeks to create hallucination in an individual, to assume tranquillity where it lacks.

This article proposes a reframing of the phrase to acknowledge that it is not okay not to feel okay. In addition, that not being okay means that remedial action is necessary. If one does not contribute to the development of the community, there is a problem. If one does not acknowledge their capabilities, then there is a problem. Further, if one fails to cope with the stresses of life, and ends up in hallucinogens, drugs and substance abuse, then there is a red flag. The proverbial garbage truck makes a good start in understanding mental illnesses. The human mind is like a garbage truck. It is full of filth. The filth is the stress that people have to go through in everyday life. If the garbage truck empties at the wrong place, then it will cause a mess. Hence, it should only release at a designated point of collection. Similarly, an easily irritable human being symbolizes emptying of the garbage at undesignated points. On a slight trigger, someone may experience a disproportionate reaction. It is not okay to act in such a manner.

NATIONAL HEALING IS A JOINT RESPONSIBILITY

Society is defined by the increase in natural and manmade disasters and emergencies that continue to be experienced on an increasing frequency. Climate change is the major culprit, especially in natural disasters. The weather condition is becoming unpredictable with the rainfall becoming an unreliable source of water for agricultural use. Rain's spatial and temporal distribution keeps on shifting, causing massive economic losses to the farmers who rely on rain-fed agriculture. When it rains, it floods, causing erosion of fertile soil to the water bodies. This is partly due to the environmental degradation caused by human activity. Trees are cut down and agriculture has become massively mechanised that the soil becomes loose and infertile. The increase in temperatures due to global warming presents a conducive environment for the breeding of pests and diseases. This affects the health of the human, animal and plant population. This shrinks the available resources affecting the ecosystem balance. With shrunken resources, an increase in human population and inadequate capacity for each person to earn a sustainable livelihood, people fall into desperation and engage in unsustainable coping strategies. This leads to stress and depression that affects the productivity of labour. The build-up imbalance in nature creates gaps whose spiral effect increases exponentially. The net effect of the imbalance is the falling standards of living, poor health, and increase in crime.

This write-up seeks to contribute to the ideas that will help to heal the situation. It is based on the thinking that the universe's problem arises from an unsustainable environment and poor health. A large component of climate change is caused by poor environmental management practices. Human activity continues to degrade the environment by clearing vegetation cover, thus affecting the ecosystem balance. The felling of trees for agriculture, wood products, and human habitation has caused damage to the ecosystem. It has deprived many other living organisms of their natural habitation while affecting the water resources. It has left an unclean environment deprived of vegetation. Human economic activities continue to degrade the environment through unsustainable waste management and pollution.

Health is another component that contributes to the imbalance of nature and is a consequence of the imbalance. The World Health Organisation defines health as a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being. The definition emphasises that health is not limited to the absence of disease or infirmity. Hence, a healthy society is peaceful and secure with the population living in harmony. A clean environment presents a healthy platform for healthy activities. Hence, the state of the environment directly affects the state of health. Under the HEAL conceptualisation, there has to be a balance in the ecosystem where predation does not lead to deprivation. Maintaining sustainable health involves the use of solutions derived from nature itself so as not to interfere with nature. Thus, human activity has to be synchronised with nature. This will promote mental health since activities will be conducted along with nature’s provisions. This will also promote social well-being because the natural balance will be maintained.

The third component of the HEAL concept in agriculture. This finds itself between health and the environment. Agriculture is among the major causes of environmental degradation. Attributed to this are practises like clearing of natural vegetation for human settlement and food production. The unsustainable clearing of forests creates ecosystem gaps that lead to disequilibrium in nature. Mechanized agriculture uses chemical compounds that kill useful microorganisms in the environment. To further boosts unsustainable productivity, livestock is treated with chemicals that boost maturity. This promotes quantity at the risk of quality. These chemicals have been found to have adverse effects on consumers of the livestock. An increase in the human population strains the resources. This is compounded by the capitalist economic policies that are characterised by cannibalism. People are no longer conscious of their neighbours. Greed has overtaken compassion thereby compromising the propensity to humanitarian action. Corruption has become endemic in a system where individuals strive to maximise material wealth at the expense of values. This deprives people of the time to take care of their mental wellbeing and building a holistic society. With the shrunken resources, employers expect too much from their employees. This approach has caused organisations to implement mechanical human resource strategies where people work extra hours to earn a living. Agriculture is the key to healthy eating, environmental sustainability, and a balanced ecosystem.

The three components will be successful if the community has the basic knowledge of the natural balance. The knowledge should be accompanied by the right attitude to act appropriately. People should be persuaded to act in a way that does not threaten any aspect of the environment, and that each person has a responsibility towards the environment. The community will act sustainably to restore the damage and promote natural healing with the appropriate knowledge and attitude. This will involve climate change mitigation and adaptation measures. Hence, the learning component is software that creates value in health, the environment, and agriculture.

Integrating the four components create a community-based disaster risk management system. Communities will be able to anticipate disasters, prepare, respond, and recover from the impacts in a short time. Hence, disaster risk reduction is the outcome rather than a set of activities.

The Solution of Human Problems is in HEALING: Health, Environment, Agriculture ad Leadership

Humanity is facing a multifaceted challenge that needs a coordinated but multidimensional approach to resolve. Disasters are becoming more frequent, with increasing severity of their impact. Yet humanity continues to degrade the environment, eat junk and overindulge in unhealthy practices. People have lowered their guard, and are on a negative sprint towards wholesome destruction. Nature is hurting as ecosystems become increasingly unsustainable. Several global and local interventions have been propounded at different levels, with steps being taken to reverse the losses. Climate change mitigation and adaptation has been touted as the approach to reverse the adverse effects of environmental degradation.

While reading the ideas by Eric Amunga, through his verified Twitter handle @amerix, I got the idea of sustainable mitigation and adaptation. Eric proposes a HEALing agenda for society. In his argument, HEAL is an acronym for Health, Education, Agriculture and Leadership. In his June 11, 2018, thread, Eric avers that for communities to be healthy, they need awareness. They cannot sit and listen to be aware if they are not educated. Hence, they need education. Yet to be educated, they need to have eaten from some agricultural produce. This produce, @amerix believes, will only materialise where leadership is visionary. This is his HEAL agenda.

This piece seeks to modify @amerix’s idea. The modified approach is meant to build on what the Government is already doing, and to complement the efforts through interventions that are not adequately covered by the Government. The HEALING agenda then starts with the component of HEALTH. The communities that are suffering from lifestyle conditions are the focus. People often take in junk food, negating the advice from nutrition experts. Fast foods have become the new normal. This denies the body the necessary nutrients found in the newly defined food groups (as opposed to the traditional balanced diet of carbohydrates, proteins and vitamins). We are what we eat. When we eat junk, our bodies become weak, with fragile immunity. Aside from consuming junk, people have normalised motorised travel, whether they are travelling long distances or shorter. Because many can afford vehicles due to enhanced standards of living, walking and exercising have been reduced. With increased commitments and tight schedules, many people overlook the need to reflect on their lives and enjoy the little achievements. Greed has taken control and many people only think of increasing their wealth, because wealth is an end in itself rather than a means to an end. Non-communicable diseases, nutrition, mental health and wellness are the main focus of the HEALTH component.

The second component is ENVIRONMENT. @amerix had education, which in this logic, falls under the leadership component. The increase in the frequency of disasters is partly a result of climate change. The globe is becoming warmer due to the depletion of the ozone layer. This is caused by unsustainable human activities resulting from environmental degradation. The increase in temperatures leads to the melting of the glaciers, a rise in water levels, an increase in ocean tides, and a disruption in the weather patterns. The effect is in the increase in pests and diseases for both livestock and humans. It further leads to failure in agriculture and scarcity of water due to erratic rains. The ripple effect is in loss of livelihoods, high cost of living and declined standards of living. This increases the vulnerability of populations, irrespective of the geographical location or economical status. Interventions here include restoration of vegetation cover for carbon sequestration and water catchment. This will also slow down environmental pollution and provide food and livelihoods for households. Waste management remains a neglected aspect especially in urban areas where waste is generated at high rates than they are collected and sustainably disposed of. Most of the poorly disposed waste finds itself in water bodies. The third aspect is on conservation of energy, reduction in the use of fossil fuel and investment in green energy. This includes investment in solar energy, biogas and recycling of biomass to produce eco-friendly energy like briquettes. Community disaster risk reduction initiatives should be introduced at this level. Community committees should be established and trained on disaster risk reduction, early warning systems and building resilience towards self-reliance. Personal responsibility is key because environmental conservation is a broad spectrum to be approached holistically rather than by single and isolated practices. It encompasses small acts like switching off the light when not in necessary use, turning off water taps, use of biodegradable material and ensuring that one does not litre around. Each person should ensure that their land has at least 10% tree cover. This is equivalent to 64 trees per acre or 7 trees in a 50*100 feet plot. Some estates have up to 90% tree cover, hence 10% is achievable. This makes them fruitful, calm, flowery and beautiful. The culture can be cultivated at the early stages of schooling through the environment clubs in schools where top environmentalists are celebrated.

The third component is AGRICULTURE. This is the main livelihood activity in Kenya. The more the population grows, the more agricultural production needs to increase. People are a product of their food. Hence, agriculture is key to a healthy diet. The government is investing modestly in agriculture. However, this is considered a trade for the rural communities who likely underperformed in formal schooling education. A social engineering effort is required to reorient agriculture as a livelihood for any class. This should involve the introduction of climate-smart farming and animal husbandry. From the foregoing, this cannot succeed without logical flow from the need for good health and favourable climatic conditions. Farmers' field days provide a platform for the exchange of ideas and sharing of farming experiences. The government supports the agricultural society of Kenya shows. Many people attend these shows for entertainment rather than learning the new techniques in agriculture. At the school level, the government is reintroducing the 4K Clubs (Kufanya, Kuungana Kusaidia Kenya). This is a novel idea that should be supported to improve the perception of agriculture by children. Entrepreneurship should meet health requirements through value addition along the agricultural value chains. Schools can introduce value addition chains to train the learners on entrepreneurship skills. This implies that under agriculture, there are aspects of nutrition where farmers are encouraged to grow crops that meet the recommended dietary requirements in their gardens or farms, and in the case of mixed farming, include the balance that would capture a holistic diet. The product should be as much for consumption as it is for business.

The fourth component is LEADERSHIP. This is comprehensive as it includes education, integrity, mentorship and coaching. One major problem with contemporary society is the lack of integrity. This is partly attributed to poor parenting due to the burden of professional or artisanal engagement of parents. The children are left under the care of domestic workers or daycare facilities. The daycare staffers and domestic managers may not have the requisite capacity to bring up a holistic individual the way a parent would. The abdication of parental role ends up bringing up moral retards with a limited sense of conscience. They are often brought up in environments that are not conducive to growth. The result is a generation that is not responsible for sustainability. The resulting imbalance causes a mental health challenge whose indicators include increased crime, homicides, suicides and violence. The increase in the number of accidents on the roads is partly attributed to the kind of society that is brought up from a weak background. People are willing to take high risks including sacrificing life on the altar of economic gain. In public and private service, virtue is less important. Many youths confide that given an opportunity, they will seek material wealth by whatever means. The wealth is an end in itself rather than being a means to an end. They would rather lose their friendships and gain more material wealth through unscrupulous means. During elections, the clean aspirants are taunted because they are not aligned to theft. They are loathed because they are unlikely to be corrupt when they ascend to political office. The system has been convoluted to accept deviance as normal. Here lies the conundrum: there are no leaders. A whole generation has been and continues to be wounded. Each person is for themselves. Positions of trust are opportunities to steal for oneself, their families and close associates. The leadership component in the intervention is to reverse the trend and inspire hope for the youth. Just like in the process of reclaiming the wasted environment, the approach here is evolutionary, to understand the drivers of the moral status, and reverse through addressing the pull and push factors. This can be achieved through establishing sessions in schools, inspiring the teachers and influencing the perception of the children. Regulatory frameworks should adopt the carrot and stick approach and corporates encouraged to reward progressive thoughts and ideas rather than mediocrity. Peer champions should be empowered and continuously capacity-built to address the misinformation in societies. Counties should endeavour to establish Youth Compacts. This is a forum where the youth-serving organisations hold quarterly sittings to discuss the employability and productivity of the youth The participants include tertiary institutions of learning that train the youths, the employers who absorb these youths into their companies, the government that sets the policies that affect youths, the security actors who deal with the young criminals, and the youths themselves.

Finally, people should appeal to their conscience. They should cultivate a culture of personal responsibility. A danger to the environment is a danger to self. Self-preservation starts with a safe environment.

The Necessary Constitutional Review

Politicians are engaging the citizens on the need to review the 2010 Constitution. The Constitution is a living document, and therefore there comes a time when changes are imperative. This could be or not be the right time for the changes. The Constitution espoused an inclusive society with measures to ensure the protection of the rights of the minorities and the marginalised. These include people, regions, beliefs, and ideologies. The framers of the Constitution were alive to the need for integrity and accountability both in the public and the private sector. To achieve these, constitutional commissions and offices were created. However, the dream continues to be elusive. Some of the state agencies are duplicating their activities, and sometimes contradicting each other. The result is a bloated wage bill, inertia, and plain incompetence within the civil service.

Devolution is a thought-out experience. It has proven to work where leadership is visionary. It is a tested example of bottom-up economics, in an attempt to have the Government closer to the people. This is akin to the Constituency Development Fund, which was designed to help people at the grassroots to achieve their development vision through government revenue. Whether the concept of Constituency Development Fund is conceptually sound, is a title to a different article.

The Constitution of Kenya 2010 has run through its first decade. A section of Kenyans believes that it is time to have an amendment to increase representation. This goes to debate without analysing whether the current representatives are representing the interests of their electorate. The Building Bridges Initiative proposed an increase of 70 Constituencies, in disregard of the current constitutional provisions that bestows the constituency and county boundaries review to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission. The folly of this approach is that it will take a political turn, and influence the thinking of Kenyans towards the greed of the politicians. The increase in the number of constituencies will inadvertently tilt the scales in representative voting, where a few communities will enjoy an unfair advantage in the legislature. They will bring back the 'tyranny of numbers that Kenyans experienced and loathed after the contested Presidential elections in 2013 and 2017. The legislature was faulted for voting for bills based on the narrow party interests rather than the popular will of the citizens. In the melee, several bills were passed, including the controversial Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act, No. 5 of 2018 and the Kenya Information and Communications Act Chapter 411A. Both pieces of legislation were widely viewed as draconian but were rushed through the legislative process, with little regard to conscience. Nevertheless, the national parliament is bloated, and the Kenyan public is grossly over-represented. The creation of two houses of parliament was a novel idea because one was specifically tasked to defend devolution. The irony is that devolution was the people's choice, yet a whole house is designated to protect it. 

The National Assembly is made up of elected members from the 290 constituencies and 47 women representing the counties. There is a further elastic number of nominated members representing special interests. The size of the house betrays its significance. The 350 politicians cannot have adequate time to speak to issues of national importance in a seating. The House operates like a marketplace where legislators would sign in when they feel and sign out when the agenda is not interesting. Therefore, attending the parliamentary seating becomes voluntary, yet they earn huge benefits including seating in parliament. It becomes a challenge to gauge the contribution of individual members in their parliamentary role. The recall clause for members of parliament is a statement of democracy. However, in a system where people are concerned about their next meal, it is not feasible to have the recall clause taken seriously. It is necessary to reduce the number of constituencies to have it more efficient and effective in service delivery. This will provide the speaker with an opportunity to know each of his/her flock. The 47 counties can make a good start for the constituency delimitation. 

With reduced national parliament constituencies, the current 290 can be converted into sub-national assembly constituencies. The elected members at the sub-national level will be meeting at sub-national assemblies in the eight regions. Nairobi should remain under the National Administration. The 8 are North Eastern, Eastern, Central, North Rift, South Rift, Western, Nyanza, and Coast. The regions would each elect a governor by popular vote. The governor shall appoint a deputy and not more than 10 ministers from among the members elected to the regional assemblies.

The education level for the candidates for election in the national and sub-national legislatures should be pegged to a university degree. This decision acknowledges that a knowledge society is a progressive society. To represent, one must have gone through the education system and earned a degree qualification. This will accord the contestant a superior comprehension of issues and motivate communities to enrol for higher education. The system should use the mode propounded by the earlier proponents of state and government who advocated for leadership by the philosopher-kings rather than rule by the appetitive elements.

The presidency should be enhanced to control the national economy, health, education, national security, defence, foreign policy, international trade, and natural resources. It should retain 80% of the national revenue to ensure equalisation in the eight regions. The election of the President should ensure an absolute majority of the popular votes cast and a further majority in four of the eight regions. After election and swearing-in, the President shall appoint a Vice President, whom he may replace at any time within the term. The president shall appoint not more than 15 ministers from among the members of parliament.

Appointments to policy levels of government shall be based on regional, ethnic, ideological, cultural, and religious balance. The political class should focus on service delivery as expected by the electorate. An independent commission shall conduct and publish scientific findings on the performance of legislators at both levels. This will be based on the fundamental functions of parliamentarians to represent, legislate, and oversight.

A constitutional review is not a bad idea. The challenge is the motive of the review. The guiding ideal should promote government efficiency while reducing redundancies and unnecessary costs to the taxpayer.

Internal Contracdtons in the Bottom-Up Economic Model

The Greek Philosopher Aristocle (Plato) (428/427-348-347 BCE) dissected the three types of people in society: the artisans, the auxiliaries and the philosopher kings.
The artisans are the producers. They are the 'Wanjikus' making the base of the society, providing the market for goods and services in an economy. Kenya's contemporary uses the term "hustler" in reference to the category. A faulty economic system has an asymmetric effect on the artisan category because they often rely on day-to-day earnings from microenterprises for a living. In Sigmond Freud's categorisation, this group of citizens is driven by the id. They are concerned about the current and are driven by appetites and desires. They are instinctual, and will often act on what they see and feel. They often coalesce around politicians for handouts, besides attending religious worship with a hope of economic liberation. They are gullible to scums and are the fooder for the current cyber scummers. This category is incapable of strategic thinking, but are the drivers of the economy. When adequately empowered, the economy will flourish.
Plato's second class is of the auxiliaries. They are the spirited element that is advanced in their thinking compared with the artisans. They are courageous and brave to protect and defend the state. They may not have the moral compass, and therefore have to be guided by a superior. In the contemporary setting, these are the middle class, the administrators and managers. In Freudian thinking, they are driven by the ego. They are sandwiched between the artisans and the philosopher kings. They are expected to follow the orders of the philosopher-kings and ensure that the appetites of the artisans are managed. The auxiliaries are the employers of the artisans. They thrive whenever the economy is thriving and so it is in their interest to keep the artisans safe.
Philosopher-kings are established at the apex of society. They are the most knowledgeable, virtuous, wise and conscientious. They are responsible for the just running of the state. They are responsible to ensure that justice prevails. Justice, in Plato's thinking, is when every component of society functions optimally. The three arms of Government are responsible for ensuring a smooth running of the state by providing an enabling environment for social, political, cultural and economic interaction.
The Bottom-Up economic models attempt to empower the base for economic takeoff. It presupposes that the base is skilled and strategic to undertake economic decisions that will spring them to higher standards of living while reducing their vulnerabilities. The model tends to bestow the responsibility of economic management to the artisans, beyond their capacity to bear. The approach was hypothesised by Karl Marx and was found to be feasible only when the capitalists have been toppled by the working class. The economic model hence looks for a state where the capitalists would be overthrown and power handed to the artisans. This is to be characterised by the nationalisation of private assets. This move started by drawing a dichotomy between the rich and the poor through the hustler-dynasty narrative. Ironically, the people fronting the approach are themselves among the wealthiest Kenyans with vast interests in private enterprise.
Proponents of the bottom-up approach argue that the people will have access to unsecured credit services to enable them to spring up. This would be rolled out differently from the revolving funds extended to the elderly, OVC (orphans and vulnerable children), people living with disabilities, youth and women. More resources are directed through the National Constituency Development Fund, and the respective county social safety nets.
Cases are replete of people who get promoted at their employment, and their promotion ends up in killing their talents and careers. The promotion is often made from the area of capacity to a managerial position. Artists have been promoted from their fields of play, music, comedy, etc to managerial positions. The promotions have killed their cares because they cannot continue with their calking, yet they are expected to perform in the managerial and administrative roles. This, according to Plato, is a misjudgement that results in injustice.
The Bottom-up economics, besides causing confusion in the economy, is likely to be a costly experiment. From experience, Kenya is supplied with opportunists who find loopholes in every government undertaking towards the citizens. The nation will lose a considerable percentage of the GDP in the process of implementing the approach because the motive of some of the functionaries is to get rich. The moral fabric of the state is torn in the middle.
Government loans and security will be defaulted because of the internal contractions in the strategy. The mass employment that the model proposes will lead to massive underemployment that will exacerbate the mental health situation that the nation is already grappling with. The people will be directed into areas that are not of their competence and passion, driven by economic motivation. This will worsen the state of affairs that has already been created by the confusion in the education system through the poorly implemented competency-based curriculum.
An approach for Kenya's economic fortunes is to create an enabling environment for businesses to thrive. This is through infrastructure development and a reduction in corruption, wastage of public resources. The citizens should elect the right people for political positions, with the knowledge that these positions determine the policies and laws that are enacted. The bottom-up economic model does not only fail to be the panacea for the current challenges, it is a disaster waiting to happen.