‽istis reclaims minding our heads (weekending February 20th 2021)
In
a week when the UK Farm Safety Foundation[i]
promotes its annual ‘Mind Your Head’ awareness campaign – (and neuroscientists and
philosophers perhaps get ready to discuss the inclusion of both mind and head
in a (non-Downing Street podium[ii])
three-part phrase which also perhaps somehow references a Descartesian sense of
identity and being – possibly some overly-serious heavy lifting for just three
words!), ‽istis ponders emotional and psychological wellbeing…
And
with:
‽ the
World Health Organisation (WHO) recognising that: ‘Fear, worry, and stress are normal responses to perceived or real
threats, and at times when we are faced with uncertainty or the unknown. So it
is normal and understandable that people are experiencing fear in the context
of the COVID-19 pandemic. Added to the fear of contracting the virus in a
pandemic such as COVID-19 are the significant changes to our daily lives as our
movements are restricted in support of efforts to contain and slow down the
spread of the virus. Faced with new realities of working from home, temporary
unemployment, home-schooling of children, and lack of physical contact with
other family members, friends and colleagues, it is important that we look
after our mental, as well as our physical, health.’[iii]
‽ research exploring new areas of understanding about mind and body, the
value of relations and relationships, about social and structural influences
‽ a host of organisations: public, voluntary, charitable, campaigning,
local, national and international offering support and resources - such as:
·
‘Young Minds’(UK)[iv]
·
‘Mind’ – for Better Mental Health[v] (UK)
·
The NHS[vi] 'every
mind matters' (UK)
·
The Center for Disease Control (USA)[vii]
·
…and perhaps find, name and share details of helpful
organisations wherever you may be…
But
with a fear that the responses considered necessary may also be affecting other
health services, including those for mental health[viii]…
‽istis
considers the challenges for policy and practice in complex debates about
routes out, the cost or price of different constructs of wellbeing - perhaps playing
out in ‘to lockdown or not to lockdown’ discussions.
‽istis
also wonders whether the current situation perhaps, possibly, maybe provides an
opportunity to reconsider whether psychological difficulties and distress could
be a ‘normal reaction to abnormal events’ or ‘an abnormal reaction to normal
events’ - with associated potential implications for how we might understand
aetiology and problem loci, contributory factors and influences; vulnerability,
resilience, ‘treatment’ and solution foci; potential links between mind, body
and spirit in our individual and collective systems…
©
Pistis
NB:
further reflections and comments linked to this week’s theme and past blog
entries to be found on Twitter: replies, retweets (which don’t necessarily
indicate approval, sometimes the very opposite!) and ‘likes’:
@Pistis_wonders
[i] https://www.yellowwellies.org/farm-safety-foundation/
and see see Twitter’s @yellowwelliesuk and the video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOvFT8-2xAs
See also ‘Tweets’ by @rebeccaOrr: our
minds – perhaps the ‘Most undervalued, busy and powerful pieces of kit on any
farm’
[ii]
See UK Government briefings and slogans throughout the C19 pandemic: currently ‘Stay
Home, Protect the NHS, Save Lives’ https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus?utm_campaign=coronavirus_grants&utm_medium=paid_searchl&utm_source=google&utm_content=keyword&gclid=Cj0KCQiApsiBBhCKARIsAN8o_4gngHQfVCM6RTBSqoHDS8E9xM0ixQ2ns_dY27a82rC3up_1jq3sPg0aAk2DEALw_wcB
[iii] https://www.who.int/teams/mental-health-and-substance-use/covid-19
and with no apology for a lengthy quotation!
