Dawes calls for less stigma, more national action on mental health

 

Opposition Spokesperson on Health and Wellness Dr. Alfred Dawes has called for a radical shift in the approach to mental health from silence and stigma to national action and investment.

 

Today marks World Mental Health Day. 

 

This year's theme, Access to Services: Mental Health in Catastrophes and Emergencies, resonates deeply with our Jamaican reality.

 

Dr. Dawes said from the trauma of violent crime to the mental toll of economic hardship to the anxiety caused by natural disasters, the nation is living through multiple crises.

 

He said, now is the time to ensure access to mental health care as an essential right.

 

Dr. Dawes urged policymakers to recognise that mental health is not a peripheral concern but a critical issue of life, dignity and national development.

 

"Far too many of our brothers and sisters are suffering in silence, ashamed, overlooked or dismissed, while depression, anxiety, addiction and other mental health challenges erode lives across every community and every social class. Yet, for all this suffering, our mental health services remain woefully under-resourced with too few professionals, too little funding and too much stigma. We cannot afford to keep treating mental health as a poor cousin in our health system," he urged. 

 

Dr. Dawes pointed to real life examples that highlight systemic failures. 

 

"When a young person battling depression is told to shake it off, when an employee in crisis is penalised instead of supported, when a community member struggling with schizophrenia is abandoned on our streets, then we as a society have failed in our responsibility to care."