By Caribbean Medical News Staff
The Cayman Islands’ officials want the general public to see the treatment of mental health issues like the treatment of any other medical ailment.
According to Julene Banks, member of the mental health commission there, while many are not afraid to seek help for physical ailments, there is still much stigma attached to seeking help for mental health issues.
Banks said that society has to treat mental health patients in much the same way that they would treat anyone else with a physical disease and those with mental health issues needed to step forward and receive help knowing that society has their back.
“We want to think of mental health in a positive way, that it’s a holistic approach to living. It’s encouraging people to be their best self and sometimes it’s best to get voluntary help,” said Banks.
She told Cayman 27 that the stigma that surrounds mental health illness likely prevents people for seeking the help that they may desperately need and encouraged loved ones from friends to family to use non-threatening interventions to persuade those who may need mental health assistance to seek treatment on a voluntary basis.
“I think it’s more the words we choose sometime, to encourage persons to seek help. We can get angry with persons that are close to us, it’s like ‘aren’t you understanding; can’t you see what’s happening to you,” said Ms. Banks. Banks also said that a family GP can also make referrals for treatment from a psychiatrist who is more than able to assist those who suffer.
