When the world gets closer.

We help you see farther.

Sign up to our expressly international daily newsletter.

Already a subscriber? Log in .

You've reached your limit of one free article.

Get unlimited access to Worldcrunch

You can cancel anytime .

SUBSCRIBERS BENEFITS

Exclusive International news coverage

Ad-free experience NEW

Weekly digital Magazine NEW

9 daily & weekly Newsletters

Access to Worldcrunch archives

Free trial

30-days free access, then $2.90
per month.

Annual Access BEST VALUE

$19.90 per year, save $14.90 compared to monthly billing.save $14.90.

Subscribe to Worldcrunch
EL ESPECTADOR

Why This Poor Caribbean Region Has Superb Mental Health

Family in Northern Colombia
Family in Northern Colombia
Tatiana Acevedo

-Essay-

BOGOTÁ — Colombia's Caribbean coastal cities have people with less depression, bipolar mood swings, schizophrenia and other mental health conditions than elsewhere in the country, according to a recent national mental health poll. Is that surprising?

A few days after I arrived in the Caribbean, I was invited to a barbecue in one of the many residential communities there mainly inhabited by young families. Like other enclosures in hot cities, it included a "spa zone" with a swimming pool, jacuzzi, sauna, steam bath and showers. Our barbecue proceeded smoothly, at least until later in the evening, when the conversation was interrupted. Three black women dressed in the white overalls of the residence's employees, entered the "spa zone," but did not emerge for five, 10, or, was it 15 minutes?

The residents were unnerved. They wondered if the three women were in the sauna or the steam room. I'll go talk to them, one of the residents ventured. Another explained that the women were taking a shower before going back to their own neighborhoods, where "you don't always have water." Finally, there was agreement to discuss the issue at a residents' meeting, and to ban entry into the spa area for all staff at the residential complex.

A few weeks later I met the women who had caused the stir as well as some of their friends and relatives employed in domestic work in the Caribbean. I listened to them in places like Malambo and Soledad — neighborhoods on the outskirts of Colombia's northern cities that are filled with creativity and resourcefulness. I found out how they had set timetables, after some trial and error, for the use of hundreds of private swimming pools in the region. They just laugh at the stipulations laid down by residents in complexes. I found that, in these districts, there is always someone — a neighbor, relative or even acquaintance — ready to turn on the tap to save water for everyone on the days when running water is available.

In my research on access to public services like water, sewerage or electricity, I documented various informal networks on getting, keeping, and gifting water. Men take turns to climb onto public generators to extend power cables. Barring nights and weekends when they rest, men, women and children, share everything from personal stories and homework to frustration, anger and loss.

With inadequate infrastructure, neighbors in working-class districts of the northern coast get together to compensate for their neighborhood's shortcomings in order to make life more tolerable. They share a somewhat relaxed attitude to what the day, or life, may bring next. This is what is revealed in the previously mentioned mental health poll.

The survey understands that mental health doesn't pertain to just psychological problems and conditions, it encompasses personal resources and attitudes we adopt in the face of vicissitudes, suffering and emotional tension. The study, which divided the country into five regions — Bogotá, Central, Eastern, Pacific and Caribbean, finds that Colombians are not very satisfied with their interaction with neighbors, except on the northern coast where ties not only bring satisfaction but foment trust. It's the same when it comes to a person"'s relationship with their boss, teacher, relative, lover or friend.

The Caribbean is remarkable for the limited amount of psychiatric discomfort among residents. The survey shows that children in this region have the fewest mental disorders. Among adults, in addition to mental disorders, there are fewer symptoms of anxiety, depression as well as fewer attempts at suicide.

But the reason why people report the lowest number of mental conditions may not be as simple as it appears, and the survey results should be read with caution. For example, since people in this region find it hard to access any mental healthcare — it can take more than 15 hours to reach a clinic or specialist — they might have different definitions for an illness or condition from those who can regularly visit a shrink.

Moreover, people in the Caribbean most frequently identify with the statement, "Life has made me so hard that nothing hurts anymore." This attitude casts the otherwise positive poll responses with a pall of melancholy.

Although the Caribbean does well on mental health indicators, old tensions and inequalities persist in this region. As a footnote in the study observes cheekily, mental health cannot exist without social justice.

You've reached your limit of free articles.

To read the full story, start your free trial today.

Get unlimited access. Cancel anytime.

Exclusive coverage from the world's top sources, in English for the first time.

Insights from the widest range of perspectives, languages and countries.

Ideas

The Colonial Spirit And "Soft Racism" Of White Savior Syndrome

Tracing back to Christian colonialism, which was supposed to somehow "civilize" and save the souls of native people, White Savior Syndrome lives on in modern times: from Mother Teresa to Princess Diana and the current First Lady of Colombia, Verónica Alcocer.

photo of a child patient holding hand of an adult

Good intentions are part of the formula

Ton Koene / Vwpics/ZUMA
Sher Herrera

-Analysis-

CARTAGENA — The White Savior Syndrome is a social practice that exploits or economically, politically, symbolically takes advantage of individuals or communities they've racialized, perceiving them as in need of being saved and thus forever indebted and grateful to the white savior.

Although this racist phenomenon has gained more visibility and sparked public debate with the rise of social media, it is actually as old as European colonization itself. It's important to remember that one of Europe's main justifications for subjugating, pillaging and enslaving African and American territories was to bring "civilization and save their souls" through "missions."

Even today, many white supremacists hold onto these ideas. In other words, they believe that we still owe them something.

This white savior phenomenon is a legacy of Christian colonialism, and among its notable figures, we can highlight Saint Peter Claver, known as "the slave of the slaves," Bartolomé de Las Casas, Mother Teresa of Calcutta, Princess Diana herself, and even the First Lady of Colombia, Verónica Alcocer.

Keep reading...Show less

The latest