“Doc, don’t you think most mental illnesses are spiritual attacks?”

This is a common question I encounter during some of our mental health awareness campaign programs. More often than not most people refer to episodes of mental breakdown as periods of “attacks”.

I consider myself as also being a spiritual person however here is my usual response to this commonly asked question

1. I believe that mental illnesses are not more spiritual than other physical illnesses. For instance the Bible listed madness¹ as a curse however it also listed fever², inflammation¹, burning fever¹ and blindness² as curses too. Do we then say when someone is blind or has a fever for instance, that he or she is cursed or demon possessed? The Bible records that Jesus cast out a demon from a ‘mad’ man and after the demons left, the man became sane.³ The same Bible recorded that Jesus also cast out a demon from a speech impaired (dumb) man too and the man started speaking.⁴ So will it be logical to argue that because of this isolated report that “majority” of speech impaired (dumb) persons are possessed? If this-"majority deduction"- doesn’t apply to the speech impaired why then is it different regarding mental illnesses?

 

 2.     Because science cannot explain the actual cause of most mental illnesses then it must be spiritual. Well you see it was just in the 19^th century – 1873 to be precise – that G.H. Armauer Hansen isolated the bacteria – Mycobacterium Leprae – that causes leprosy even though for thousands of years prior to that discovery leprosy was believed to be largely a curse from God or the gods. My point here is that because something is a popular belief for thousands of years does not make it true. I also believe that it is just a matter of time that causes of various mental illnesses will be better understood just like Leprosy is now better understood despite thousands of years of wrong myths and ignorance.

Like I said earlier, I consider myself a spiritual person and a man of faith, but the aim of this post is to cause a rethink of the notion that mental illnesses are largely “spiritual attacks”. This popularly held belief, particularly in Africa, has prevented many from seeking more appropriate and effective treatments that could have helped with many unnecessary years of suffering.

Let’s spread the awareness and not the stigma because "When you are better educated about what you are dealing with, then you're never without hope." Remember that people with mental illness can live more optimally fulfilling lives therefore talk to a professional today.

 

*Bible References: 1. Deuteronomy 28:28; 2. Deuteronomy 28:22; 3. Matthew 8: 28-34; 4. Luke 11: 14

 

NB: I gladly look forward to your comments, contributions and questions.

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3 Critical Benefits of a Workplace Wellness Programs to Your Business

One of the primary purpose of any business is to make profit therefore optimizing the return on investment (ROI) of staff Healthcare plan therefore becomes a critical aspect of any business.

Here are 3 valuable benefits of a workplace wellness program

1. The Business gets to save on investments on health-related cost

 In a recent meta-analysis of the literature on costs and savings associated with wellness programs, researchers from Harvard University found that medical costs fall by about $3.27 for every dollar spent on wellness programs. Dr. Dee Edington of University of Michigan, a highly respected wellness program ROI expert, stated that companies that invest adequately in their wellness programs save at least 3 times their investment in health-related costs.

2. It improves employee engagement

A recent data released this year by Virgin Pulse, a market leader in the rapidly-growing employee health engagement category, showed that the top five factors affecting employee well-being are work stress, physical health, personal stress, financial concerns, and sleep. Findings from this report further supports that there is a strong link between employee well-being and engagement. A comprehensive workplace wellness program helps to address and better manage these factors affecting employee well-being.

3. It boosts productivity

Many researches suggest that employee productivity is where workplace wellness programs yield the greatest returns. One study done in Australia showed that healthy workers are 3.1 times more productive than others.

When a finely tuned comprehensive workplace wellness program is in place, everyone wins. You can choose to take a reactive approach to healthcare- where you pay for health problems after they develop and continue to see your healthcare costs climb- or you can take a proactive approach-where you invest in the health of your employees, trim healthcare costs, and improve employee engagement and productivity.

A comprehensive workplace program is not just a ‘nice-to-have’, it is a need-to-have’ because of the significant impact on the bottom-line. Clearly a proactive approach makes good business sense both for employers and employees.