Romania's hidden dragons: how normal we treat mental health

Why do we shy away from dealing with mental health?

Alain de Botton says in his book “The School of Life "that there is no such thing as an intelligent person per se (and probably there is no one entirely dumb either).  We are in fact as intelligent with our machines and technologies as we are simple minded with the management of our emotions. People are messing up their lives irrespective of how many university degrees they have.

The way we manage our thoughts, emotions and impulses contributes much more to our evolutions as individuals than information stocked by our brain. If those components of information do not work well together in the sense of helping us become emotionally intelligent people, there are very little chances to start what we planned and finish what we started. In the Romanians society we very often hear that Romanians are highly gifted individuals who can not work together, therefore despite of the brilliant ideas people discuss at a table there is no one to get the job done. Romanians are born and raised in a society deeply rooted in the belief that “we can not”, “the solutions are outside, not within us”, “the outside world overpowers us and we can not control it, we’re just victims”, “if you dare for  more and you are not cautions, there’s this huge invisible dragon, the “bau-bau”, that might your balance, so you better obey and wait for someone to come and help you”, “even if someone comes to help you, watch out not to be the huge invisible dragon!”. These are, unfortunately, abstract concepts that are deeply rooted within Romanian Culture.

Although Romanians are making huge steps ahead, via the new generations that travel a lot and are exposed to various cultural messages from more developed societies, there are still strong emotional links with the profound cultural and educational background that keep people trapped in emotional ignorance, rather than emotional intelligence. The Recent study* we have conducted (on the request of Curtea Veche Publishing )on the way people relate to mental health problems & diagnosis in Romania demonstrates that dichotomy between the way people relate to the subject from technical & intellectual point of view versus the emotional disposition towards the topic.

Survey Highlights

Romanians declare they have high tolerance and acceptance towards mental illness in general

The results of the qualitative and quantitative survey show that the great majority of Romanians declare they manifest openness and compassion towards people with mental illness, especially in open society debates (they do not want to be judged for not being compassionate or tolerant).

44% Agree that people with mental illness should have same rights as others.

The majority still consider that isolation and institutionalization are main solutions for people with mental problems (less the integration)

Most of the people declare that it is not in their power to help people in need, they need specialized support. The paradox is that lots of the mental health problems, of mild gravity, can be treated through integration and acceptance, isolation might aggravate them, yet the Romanian society is not completely open to accept such a solution

The mentality is for the moments centered in the area of “staying open about it”, yet pretty scarce in terms of solutions and problem solving “of course we want to help, but we need institutions and specialists to take care of this”

45% Agree that people with mental illness should be treated by special institutions, under specialized control.

People still have the believe that the responsibility for curing belongs to the ill person

The Romanians society faces a major lack of responsibility with respect to what people could do to help those in need. 30% of the people say that those affected by a mental illness could progress if they would do something about it.

The way people relate to the topic expresses the level of emotional intelligence of the society per se – we are trying to stay compassionate, but we fail to take responsibility for actively helping those in need „I empathies, I understand, I accept, but they should solve their problem first and than come for integration”

The apparently open attitude becomes tabu when it risks to be part of your personal intimate life

The numbers shown by the survey prove the theoretical openness and acceptance of the people towards mental health issues,, but prove that, de facto, the society is still intolerant and  restrictive – 46% say they do not know if they would continue a relationship with a friend with problems and 20% say they will not become friend with a person with mental issues.

1/3 of the people say they will chose NOT to live with a person with mental problems, and 44% would choose not to marry such a person

There is obviously a fear of accepting people with mental problems as part of health problems in general. The nature of such problems determines the isolation and segregation of the society and could have negative impact in treating those disease and recovering patients.

There is still mistrust in calling a psychologist to help you solve the problem (“others might need him, not me”)

Another interesting fact is that almost 50% of the people declare that dealt with psychical and emotional difficulties, but only 42% of these went to a psychologist

Fear of going to the psychologist is completely different than the fear of going to the doctor or the dentist. The reluctance is purely emotional – fear of being judged, shame, lack of control, mistrust and, as they say, inaccessibility (whether too expensive or lacking trust in the competence of the psychologist).

In the interviews we conducted there were cases of people that, although being recommended to go to therapy couldn't afford more than 2 sessions, so the say “we solved the problem by ourselves”, cheaper, "they read books or articles on internet” and „they talked among themselves”

Going to the psychologist = losing time and money, not real help

There are several quotes that bring more clarity in Romanians’ perception about the utility of going to the psychologist:

"Why to go to therapy, to talk to a picture alone, like a nuts? "

"uff, these therapists, they do not know how to get a hold on your money but they barely given any solution. You talk alone. What? Can't talk alone in my house, for free?"

Romanians are still on their way towards learning the practice of acceptance and compassion towards others, including those that suffer at psychical and emotional level, before calling themselves emotionally intelligent individuals, forming a strong culture on its way to collective evolution.