Jacqueline Ramirez, Period 1, 3/18/22

Modern Mythology 2022

Jacqueline Ramirez, Period 1, 3/18/22

• Socio-political Consciousness

• What are your thoughts and feelings about issues of inequity, oppression, and/or power?

• How do you reflect critically on your own beliefs, assumptions, values, and experiences, and how these can influence your perception of self and others?

While mental health awareness has definitely increased, there are still so many people around this world who suffer from lack of acceptance and solutions in their communities. My personal experiences with mental health struggles have shown me that mental health can affect every aspect of a person’s life, from friends to family to physical health to work and more. Therefore, mental health is just as important as physical health and every other aspect of health. 

There are so many refugees in this world whose mental health is suffering and receiving little to no attention. Most of the big humanitarian organizations in this world are focused on physical health and while it is understandable that providing for basic physiological needs is a priority, addressing the various mental health issues that exist among the refugee population is also very important. Article 25.1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that “everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.” Basic survival isn’t all there is to life and it wouldn’t be fair if refugees weren’t given the tools and aid necessary to help them achieve the standard of life they aspire for. As student mental health advocate Hailey Hardcastle so logically puts it in her TED talk, “All of us have a brain that needs to be cared for in similar ways that we care for our physical well-being. Our head and our body are connected by much more than just our neck after all… since mental health affects all of us, shouldn't we be coming up with solutions that are accessible to all of us?”

Refugee children in particular are in need of positive attention, nurturing, creative outlets, and educational opportunities. There are a multitude of issues that these children, whether infants, toddlers, and teens face that will affect them for life and that they most likely will never forget. So many of these kids have had to grow up faster than they should when really, children should just be allowed to be children. Roughly a fourth of the nearly 33 million refugee children in this world have lost their family and friends and are travelling alone with just the clothing on their backs. These children have had their homes destroyed and witnessed much violence including the deaths of family and friends. To reach refugee shelters, they have to undergo unsafe journeys. Many don’t feel comfortable and safe in their new homes and have a hard time adjusting to different cultures, peoples, and languages. These kids are too young to work or take care of themselves which leaves them at risk to dangerous situations like trafficking and manipulative people. These children experience many difficulties and are therefore vulnerable to mental illnesses like post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression, and more that could influence their whole lives. Living in unstable environments, children are restless, and they need extra attention to grow. Someday, I hope to help improve this situation even just a bit by creating a non-governmental organization of my own or working for the UN or another IGO/NGO to address these issues.