Narcissistic Acts: The History of Mental Health in Sudan
Alaa Babiker
Our everyday life problems are not exclusive to economic, cultural, political, or even our physical health issues. There is a very important part that we are unaware of or – to be harsh – neglect to speak about it publicly, that is our Mental Health. Our minds are programed in a wrong way, making us visualize that we are strong and have no problems at all, pretending to be fine which only makes the issue even more severe. The Sudanese society is very poor, not because we have limited resources, no, we have resources that many superior countries are competing to take from. We are poor because we have poor minds, they were programed in a completely wrong way. Since hundreds of years ago, when we were colonized by Turkish and even British, our minds were manipulated and set incorrectly, and when we demanded our independence, we did not think what is next to do?! The colonized are gone, and we were left alone to our own destiny! The colonized made a very serious divisions in the society, and established two main groups, the First Group consisted of the educated people, those were treated differently than the other group, which was of the illiterate people, the Second Group, and this division is still present up to this day! The Second Group grew up having hard feelings towards the First Group, looking at then with much envy towards them and their families, not realizing that their minds were set to think that way! The Mind was programed! And the Second Group inherited this programing to their children, and so on to this day! It’s all programing! And our ethnical diversity and the presence of the history of Black and White, the pure race and the mixed one, the fluent tongue and the different accent, all led with the present of the First Group arrogance to the complications of racism and narcissism that we have today, and that is what makes us a poor people. Manipulated Mind Settings!
So, what is mental health? Why is it important? and how does it affect our thinking and our behaviors towards each other, and towards ourselves?
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel, and act. It also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others, and make healthy choices. Mental health is important at every stage of life, from childhood and adolescence through adulthood). That is because mental health determines what we think of, what we say, and what we do, and those three elements (think, say, do) are our everyday life. How many times have you said something and regretted later, if you would THINK again you would take it back. And how many times have you hurt someone psychologically or physically because someone encouraged you to do so, and also regretted later, Mind Setting! Our society was programed to listen to what other people say and just follow, without taking a moment of thinking. The First Group’s minds were programed that they are The Best and the others are lower, and they don’t think why are they better?! why they deserve to be treated differently?! They forget that they were supposed to be the leaders and the ones who make the right decisions for the sake of the Second Group! On the other hand, the Second Group’s minds were programed to only Follow, so they think they don’t know anything, and they are not allowed to participate at anything. The tense started to increase when minds of the descendants of the First Group became Less Powered due to many political and socially high-class reason, and the minds of the Second Group became More Powered due to their minority feeling that led them to the continuous search for knowledge and superiority. Here started a psychological conflict between the two groups, the literate and the illiterate. They both used different means, both legal and illegal, both legislated and forbidden, to try to prove that they are The Better, or they are Still The Better, and there was the start of the conflicts and wars between the literate at the minority people, genocides and tribal conflicts all are desperate attempts made by the First Group to try to take control again, not thinking that they were becoming less wisdom and it was time for the Second Group to take over some roles. If we took a deeper look at the Sudanese society, you will find the only two groups mentioned before, even at the scale of one house, you will find members belonging to the First Group and the others belonging to the Second Group. It is a matter of Mind Setting! And in my opinion what makes this division still present at our modern day is the person’s believes, surrounding environment, and her/his ability to be freed off the previous incorrect mind programing!
The important thing is that we must be aware of the powers of our minds, and what we can do if we focused at having a stable mental health. We need to be united and work together to make One Better Group, one strong mind, and one Sudan. It is not a crime to clear your mind or even talk to a specialist when everyday issues are getting out of hand. It is not wrong to ask for help. We need to realize that our minds are programed incorrectly, and one healthy way of breaking the cycle of that programing is by stop being followers, and start clearing and using the abilities of our minds, and taking care of our Mental Health.
At The Citizen Outlet, we will publish important tips for how to improve your mental health, how to stay focused and use the ultimate powers of your mind, along with how to find the right specialist when having mental health issues. Because with the right setting of mind we can build great nations.