WISH Responds to Recent Commentary on Mental Health in Antigua and Barbuda
“For lack of wisdom, my people perish” – Hosea 4:6. This powerful scripture speaks to the importance of seeking knowledge and understanding concerning human well-being. While religion and spirituality play vital roles in our society and personal lives, they should never be wielded as tools to dismiss or degrade scientifc research and medical facts. As the verse suggests, true wisdom comes from embracing both spiritual insights and human understanding – including the vast body of research and evidence supporting mental health care.
Today, the Wadadli Initiative for Self-care and Healing (WISH) addresses recent commentary questioning the legitimacy of mental health concerns in our community. As a mental health advocacy organization in Antigua and Barbuda, we feel compelled to provide clarity and context to this important discussion.
“Mental health challenges are not a product of moral failure or lack of faith – they are legitimate medical conditions that afect one in four Caribbean citizens,” states WISH founder Chaneil Imhof. “The World Health Organization reports that mental health conditions have increased by 25% since the pandemic, impacting people of all backgrounds, beliefs, and walks of life. Dismissing these challenges as merely spiritual issues does a grave disservice to our community and potentially prevents people from seeking life-saving help.”
Imhof continues, “We’ve seen frsthand how untreated mental health conditions impact families, workplaces, and communities across our islands. The statistics are clear: 75% of mental health conditions develop before age 24, yet the average person waits 11 years before seeking help, largely due to stigma and misconceptions.”
WISH Content Creator Raisa Charles ofers a balanced perspective on the intersection of faith and mental healthcare: “Religious freedom is a constitutional right and plays an important role in our society. People should do whatever helps them feel spiritually grounded and connected.
However, we must be wary of indulging in spiritual escapism remembering that some approaches can be so heavenly-minded that they are no earthly good. The idea that a person’s mental health struggle is their fault due to a lack of faith is unsupportive at best and extremely harmful at worst. While involvement with communities of faith and spiritual support systems are often part of the treatment approach for improving a person’s mental health, these measures are especially efective when paired with credible assessment, accurate diagnosis and therapeutic intervention where necessary. It is imperative that we, as a people, arm ourselves with sound, evidence-based information before attempting to ofer care and support to vulnerable communities.”
WISH advocates for a comprehensive approach to mental health that:
- Recognizes mental health as a fundamental aspect of overall wellbeing
- Supports evidence-based treatment methods while respecting cultural and spiritual beliefs
- Promotes early intervention and prevention strategies
- Reduces stigma through education and open dialogue
- Increases accessibility to mental health resources across Antigua and Barbuda
We invite religious leaders, community members, and all stakeholders to join us in creating a more compassionate and informed dialogue about mental health.
For more information about mental health resources and WISH’s initiatives, please visit our website at wishwadadli.org.
The Wadadli Initiative for Self-care and Healing (WISH) is a mental health platform in Antigua and Barbuda, dedicated to revolutionizing how our nation thinks about, talks about, and cares for mental health. Through education and advocacy, WISH works to break the silence, shatter stigmas, and create positive change in mental health awareness.
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Hard to imagine that Yves was the head (president) of the Chamber of Commerce until Feb this year. They must be breathing a sigh of releif in their decision to replace him with Wenise Davis. Unfortunately Yves has not been engaging brain before putting pen or mouth into action.
Kudos to WISH for trying to help, but in defense of the pastor, mental health “experts” have lost a lot of credibility since they started saying that men could be women and so forth. Also, doubtful that that many people have been visiting the experts in these parts so where are these statistics coming from? Finally situations can be interpreted in different ways – mental, spiritual etc. So, the pastor’s methods might still bring healing from a different angle. After all the “statistics” say that certain things supposedly can’t be cured after a certain age using methods the experts are aware of. So, perhaps, other methods might work better in those situations?
Job sites can be main contributors to one’s mental health disposition.
In this era where acquiring a university degree is the order of the day, there are several persons who for some unfortunate reason have not accomplish in getting a degree, hence are pushed aside, overlooked and looked at as non achievers.
These very persons have families to feed, bills to pay and a self pride of self actualization. Frustration & perhaps other forms mental issues then creeps in when their salaries become stagnant and they are viewed as nothing on the job.
Perhaps, an assessment needs to be done to those in authority as to why they treat their lower staff in that manner.
Surprisingly, some may be suffering mental issues of egotism etc and need to be mentally checked.
Thank you! The dismissive article which was published prior, used scripture to hide behind
– an excuse to ignore the needs of many. Just because you are Christian does not mean that you don’t go through crises in life that can be severely difficult to handle and which can have a negative impact on your emotional being. We are not just biological matter, we also exist as psychosocial beings and all aspect of a human must be in harmony to achieve the balance we refer to as “Health”. Without that balance of biological, social and psychological harmony, complete health os not achieved.
I must say I am happy for this response but I also want to say there are a many reasons for mental/emotional health problems. It is not just one. And yes, mental health is a medical problem.
We should not all think what we are saying is the only right answer. I made a living providing emotional/mental health support and legal representation for victims of crimes, abuse and terrorism.
Mental/emotional health problems can be from various things. No party here is completely and solely correct. But i do agree that folks need to know mental/emotional health is important.
Again, my endeavor in which I expressed to the PM Browne, would provide the emotional, mental, social, financial and immigrational support to US residents visiting the caribbean who are victims of qualifying crimes. These funds provide emotional and mental health service payment for victims to seek these kind of help, some pays $35,000usd, $12,000usd, $120,000.00usd, to seek as much of this service as you want/need to deal with any emotional or mental health problem resulting from the victimization.
Literally while the victim is in Antigua, some counseling or counselor could bill such funds. This also applies to Antiguans and Barbudans who are suffering such mental/emotional harms as a result of victimization that occurred in the US. Even if you have never been there because your qualified relative who was there were victimized there.
You also would get child support paid, US crime victim visa/greencard, your salary paid (in some cases up to $120,000usd), housing paid, transportation to court paid, medical expenses paid and of course, they pay me directly for providing the victim and victim qualifying relative advocacy services.
We need Jesus, now more than ever. Mental health advocates and professionals have their place, but we must be reminded that we are never truly complete without a relationship with our creator. We are seeing the damage that is caused by not knowing our purpose and not appreciating why he created us as we are. Many of us have stories that you would not imagine just by observing us. It is a testament to the power of the Holy Spirit and it is available to all who would believe.
Chaneil, are these errors where even your last name is spelt incorrectly the fault of WISH or the journalist? Even “ofers” is spelt wrong.
The points were valid but this is not how your organization wants to brand itself.
If someone on your team wrote this, they need to be stopped from writing in the future because they aren’t acquainted with the fundamentals of writing.
i, too, wondered who proofread the piece. there are multiple errors. Now people may say “that is small potatoes, whereas the focus should be on the message”. My response is that letting the little things go is what reduces a society’s standards in the long run and we end up asking: “how did we get here?”
Hosea 4:4 – “Hear the word of the Lord, ye children of Israel: for the Lord hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land.” – Ironically, the scripture they chose as a rebuttal is part of an illustration of the very conditions the man is lamenting. We need God!!
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