Seafarers and Mental health
One of the key reasons which persuaded me to summarily give
up my sailling career and venture out for some social service was the untimely
death of three of my friends which included a batchmate due to to some or the
other reasons related to mental health. All three deaths happened in a week’s time and due to natural
causes.
As providence would have it I got associated with some
social causes which helped me look deep into to the human psyche and
minds around me.
In neighbours I have seen 3 suicides in the last two years
and some brain related problems in some seafarers.
The latest case that we all heard about Captain Khanna
suffering from a unique syndrome is the latest in the series.
Similarly in 2005 my childhood friend contracted Julian
berry syndrome which is sort of short circuiting of the nerves due to breakdown
of the myelin sheath which acts as insulation otherwise.
I regularly offer my services at the Vipassana meditation
centre and on the day of the start of the course I regularly come across
more than 15 to 20% of the participants suffering from some sort of mental
disorder or addiction. This percentage is absolutely in line with what the UN
has just declared as a percentage of Indians who will suffer from issues
of mental health by next year that is 2020.
The purpose of such a devastating introduction is that there
are more number of people suffering from some sort of mental issues then they
care to acknowledge. However due to a natural defensive nature in accepting
such diagnosis very few people actually go for professional help.
We fail to realise that just like physical ailments,
the mental ailments could also be very very temporary but they have to be given
the professional help as in the case of physical disorders.
Seafarers and mental health:
Usually it is a tendency for the Marine professionals to
think that because of staying in relative trouble-free environment ,fresh
air and open sea they do not suffer from or cannot suffer from any mental stress
and hence the question of any disorder cannot arise.
My wife had started a marriage counselling service
alongwith some social scientists and a psychiatrist more than a decade ago .
In the five year of its existence they interacted with
almost 1470 couples who were undergoing marital stress. In most of the cases
the reason was more of individual stress environment for the people and this
included a sizeable number of seafarers as well.
Possible cause of stress to a Seafarer irrespective of
his age or social status or professional rank:
1.
Extended stay away from home and familiar
environment.
2.
Hectic deadlines both at sea and while a shore.
3.
Lack of sleep: this unfortunately is one of the
biggest reasons of stress and depression in the seafarers. I remember in my
junior time I used to treat almost everybody on board for insomnia. Bye I know
everybody has read enough of it and knows that more than 2-3 days of lack of
sleep can cause a temporary breakdown in the mental status of a person.
Release of cortisol the stress hormone increases and the secretion of insulin
reduces. We all know what the state of mind is when we leave a port after
hectic discharge operation, MOC inspection and superintendent's visit in the
same port.
4.
Anxiety regarding one's future:
5.
Anxiety regarding one's finances:
6.
Anxiety regarding one's family:
7.
Anxiety regarding once interpersonal relations
with the spouse: While the
above three causes are self explanatory ,this in fact has been the most
recurring of the reasons that I have found amongst the colleagues right from my
first day at sea.
Nowadays I get more phone calls regarding this matter rather
than even financial planning matters.
It is the general tendency for both the spouses to think
that the other person is not being understanding. Which actually is the case
because neither does the wife understand the physical and mental pressures
while the spouse is at sea and neither does the sailor understand what the wife
goes through every morning from
the time that she gets up to the time that she goes to sleep at night.
The insecurities of shore life and the pressures from the
peers and relatives cause a permanent twist in the nature and character of the
wife.
So this is certainly not something that needs to be wished
away.
Personally for me, I find that even the people around me who
passed away due to some physical issue had the reason deeply entrenched in ones
brain.
I remember a very funny incident that we had in school .
Whenever we used to make excuses for not going to school by saying that
we are having a stomach ache, by noon at least I would get proper stomach ache.
So strong was the working of the mind even at young age that just imagination
could bring about a temporary situation in the body.
So what can we do to alleviate or handle it before we reach
such a situation.
The few things that I have found out on my own but
specifically by asking the expert around me:
1.
Relax: after coming home on leave and after a
few days, plan a vacation with your family . It doesn't matter even if
you need to take few days of vacation for the children from school. Seafarer's
children learn more while they travel than they do at school. This is my
personal experience.
1.
Why on boar,d also try to to give up your
mobiles and laptops for a period and just lie down .
2.
Exercise physically: this I need not teach the
youngsters today because they are very active . But let not your exercise
schedule become into a exercise syndrome which causes stress on the body and
the mind.
3.
Exercise mentally by reading different kind of
literature, playing different kind of brain games, learning new language from
your onboard colleagues and designing quiz for the ship staff.
4.
Listen to good music: it has been found that the
memory related to music is deeply and permanently etched in the brain and
remains even with the Alzheimer patients. This I have seen in a friends case.
5.
Meditate: this is the most important part and
one must adopt it in one's daily routine. I would go as for as saying that if
you adopt meditation in your daily routine you will be able to to overcome any
challenge even if you do not do any of the above four things.
There are many kinds of meditations going on around us but
please do not confuse this with Pranayam.
I have personally being doing Vipassana meditation for a
decade now. But the true testimony to this is provided by the famous author of
Sapiens and Homo Deus ,Yuval Noah Hariri . An Israeli national, he is not only
a practitioner of Vipassana but also a teacher and visits India every year for
2 months to refresh his practice.
In India we have over 94 residential centres catering to at least one in each state. We are lucky to have one in Dehradun itself which is
about to complete its 25 years.
Almost every fortnight when a 10 day course starts we have
few patients of mental condition with various diagnosis of bipolar-ism,
Schizophrenia, depression etc.
But mostly we get healthy meditators quite a few of them
very young.
The feedback from most of these meditators indicates that
after doing the course and regular daily practice they find themselves to be
much sharper with the high level of concentration and the ability to take quick
and logical decisions in times of crisis.
I am sure you will find all these qualities to be necessary
at sea and also in your personal and family lives.
The basic and minimum course is of 10 days and gets over on
the 11th day early morning. The boarding and lodging during the course is
absolutely free as each course is financed by the donations of the previous
meditators who have benefited from such courses.
The course is absolutely non-sectarian and devoid of any
prayers, chantings, rituals and worships .
Apart from this I call upon you as fully aware and conscious
colleagues to look around in the ship to see the condition of each and every of
your shipmates. The empathy that you will gain by this exercise will help you
when you come home to your family.
May all of you be blessed and Happy.
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