The ManicaPost
Dr Mazvita Machinga —
HAVE you ever thought that corruption has devastating effects on individuals’ and societies’ mental health?
Yes, it has. There are mental health costs of corruption. There is a relationship between psychological distress and corruption.
Corruption leads to mental health and physical problems. I have often heard people saying:“Hey, there is so much corruption in Zimbabwe these days”.
Looking around, I also notice that corruption is wide spread in various sectors of our community. There are conditions ripe for corruption in Zimbabwe.
For the purposes of this article, corruption is dishonest, unethical or illegal behaviour carried out by people for specific selfish gains.
With Zimbabwe ranking very high on the Corruption Index (CPI), and as a psychotherapist, I have often wondered how corruption is affecting mental health. What specific negative impact can corruption have on mental health? Corruption is evil.
Corruption has damaging effects not only on economic development and socio-economic issues but also on mental health issues and needs to be seriously addressed.
Corruption increases sense of insecurity, causing anxiety and hypersensitivity. It also increases the burden of mental health problems such as depression, anxiety and post- traumatic stress disorder.
There are serious levels of disability associated with mental health challenges. There are fatal and non-fatal mental health outcomes associated with corruption. Furthermore, as a way to handle the stress and suffering caused by corrupt activities, some people abuse alcohol and substances or suicide.
Most common forms of corruption range from embezzlement,theft , fraud, abuse of discretion , abuse of public office for private gain, favouritism, nepotism , paying bribes to obtain documents; to avoid problems with the police; to access medical care or school places; to get jobs etc.
There is also improper social and political contribution which leads to corrupt actions that result in suffering of vulnerable populations. Some evidence is presented that an individual needs to experience such corruption more than ‘once or twice’ for negative effect to become evident.
One sad factor about corruption is that, it worsens inequality and injustice by perverting the rule of law and punishing people of crime through corrupt rulings.
In corrupt societies, people present some psychological and emotional behaviours that indicate something is not right with their functioning. So why do people continue to participate in corrupt activities if they are such illegal and malicious undertakings? A difficult question isn’t it?
Is there anything that can be done? Yes, there is. The community and media are key in not just exposing corruption but also sustaining an open transparent flow of information and intolerant of corruption.
Fixing accountability and encouraging transparency combined with efficient judiciary, impartial press and leaders provide an ideal atmosphere to tackle the menace of corruption. Corrupt behaviours should not be condoned and prosecution needs to be done to anyone found on the wrong side.
The following are some negative impact of corruption on mental health:
I have seen that access to basic services such as health, education and access to justice is hampered by acts of corruption, depriving citizens from their enjoyment of sound mental health. Such situations is causing stress, anxiety and sometimes even trauma.
It is true that the most economically vulnerable groups are the ones mostly deprived from access to basic services because of their inability to pay bribes, which in turn may lead to violation of their rights to health, education, food, adequate housing and water.
All this leads to suffering which may cause depression, and serious impairment in one of the following: social, occupational, or school functioning.
Embezzlement of funds allocated to social programmes is also causing lots of mental health challenges to communities whereby people can become anxious, chronically stressed and not knowing what to do.
Acts of bribery committed by corrupt police officers, prosecutors or judges result in preventing access to justice, depriving citizens of the right to a fair trial. This also cause mental suffering to people, increased levels of stress hormone, cortisol.
Sustained high cortisol levels destroy healthy muscles, impair digestion, metabolism and mental function.
From the information above, it is a fact that corruption destroys lives and society and effort should be put to curb it. It leads to most citizens’inability to live life to full potential.
I call upon every citizen to take responsibility.STOP CORRUPTION wherever you are. In that way we promote healthy individuals,families and communities.
It iseveryone’s responsibility.Without corruption, our communities and nation can be a better place. As a psychotherapist, join me and others in fighting corruption.
Dr. Mazvita Machinga is a qualified psychotherapist and mental health consultant based in Mutare. For any mental health issues, psychotherapy, counselling and training needs contact her at 0771 754 519 Email: [email protected]
