DECISION MAKING AND SITUATION HEALTH MANAGEMENT

INTRODUCTION
Life if full of diverse encounters both meaningful, worthy celebrating, regretful and unforgivable –whose remedy could be thought to be revenge or otherwise, suicide and aggression of all forms.

The origin of such encounters could vary from one person to another, and the following could be examined; genetic make-up, post-natal experiences, child-hood disorders and handling, development risk exposure and vulnerability, family mental-health problems and contagious family stress, generational family, national and societal troubles, problems to do with economic miseries and undignified living, value-less living, family and society bullies, poor self and life planning and management –including the environment in which we live, contempt of life and existence rights of others and above all, failure of leaders to identify and intervene to solve the stated problems.

Human problems are occurring and different levels –ranging from family to schools, to work, to leadership and institutional circles and the wider communities. Therefore, multi-faced problem-solving programmes and technologies need to be designed to reduce human and environmental impact and damage of the human afflictions, while instituting national or global precaution and 24 hour check systems to prevent occurrences and make prevention programmes major focal concern though hand in had with scaling down impact.

It would require a sort of multi-barrel gun or two-barrel to shoot either ways to control and prevent incidences to disasters while ensuring investment in research and information banks. In doing all these, a sense of humanism must be developed right from family levels through influential institutions and a must during policy formulations.

Reception
Affected persons need courtesy, to be shown love and care, and to be assured to safety or hope for the best. Polite questions could be used to enlist the gravity of troubles, and allow narration of encounters while ensuring all are released out to no molecule left.

Outline Programme Highlights
Being a participatory approach, it would be a patient’s right to know what the recovery programme would entail. There must be a systematic relay of recovery actions. It would help promote planning and management as well as collaborative relationship with patient and in patient.

Outline Troubles
On behalf of the patient, help to outline and note down troubles since it would require addressing systematically one at a time over a given period of time.

Purpose
Using polite questions guide the affected person to safe thinking and possibility of action. Let the person come out with an outline of life goals and plan of action. Only use same polite question to have patient think about what you think he or she could do.

Outline Possible Re-building Actions
Guided with helping questions to solutions and alternatives, let the person find steps out of troubling situations. Base the enabling questions on the outlined troubles. In them, get centered on the patient self of the past troubles, how he or she dealt with them, how he could have approached them and what would be required of now as in the future –looking at progressive living, confronting problems, negotiating and manouvering around obstacles and looking at alternatives, then patient self of healthy-living, relationships and career development remedy actions.

While at environmental level, would be the need to identify environmental toxins, dealing with them and preventing self-penetration. Also, to examine would be the patient’s spirituality extent and subsequent re-orientation, issues of family life, society and ambitions, but in a futuristic sense. Collaborative relationship of at least 30 minutes per day would be much benefiting.

Forming Values, New Character and Personality
These would be consistent with outcomes of the dangerous person and troubling experience, self-proclaimed strategic vision and implementable action plan of the near and far future. And helping form a lifestyle that flies all the way to life goals and a system of tireless search for answers whenever trouble ensued.

It would also involve making friends and coming up with hobbies or a kind of trusted team with which to share visions and special person to consult in case of extremes and confidential experiences. They could be written down and plastered on the wall or reflected upon every day in prayer and social interactions or in positive self-talk -both before and after new similar and bad incident.

Success at several new encounters in life would create a character that floats over challenges and trouble and a personality that slices and crashes through obstacles. It would a kind of personality that “superman” has that flies through concrete, fire and space.

But at this stage also we could look at goodness and reality living to avoid excesses the may be turn out to be a personality toxin to a future patient. The does and don’t would actually be a new guide and real self to health self relationships and future self as in social interactions.

Encourage Self-help Groups
Allow patient to interact with others in the same stage of counseling session or therapy administration. Helping them verbally re-define themselves and self-assert on new lifestyle. Allow one at go speaking among members and let others listen as one is speaking. This could help them build self-confidence, self-esteem and positive attitude to life and people. Guided by questions encourage willingness to express themselves freely in public or any other interpersonal interactions.

Meditating over Problems and Their Solution, and Self-definition
Meditation helps to increase concentration to allow flow of answers to troubling conditions or situation. It helps to find ways of by-passing fear and/or maneuvering through with problem to succeed. It requires quiet and non-distracting place and position to enable focussed problem examining and solution derivation.

It is an activity that would occur during rest time or bed-time, after work or over weekends –depending on the gravity of the problem. Time taken would range from 30 minutes to 2 hours accompanied by dietary checks and conscious. And at the end of it all, the person would have come up with a new self to promote or test in a social scenario.

Outlining Possible Action Plans for Mental Health Care and Self-Management
a) Constantly asking self and arising situation questions.
b) Self-clarification and/or seeking clarification.
c) Rejecting or ignoring what is un-purposeful, meaningless and mis-representing.
d) Searching and doing activities and hobbies which a satisfying.
e) Relaxing and deep breathing when fatigued and in fearful situation.
f) Have sufficient sleep of at least 8 hours.
g) Confront and argue out cases but with respect for others, show dis-satisfaction with a statement of unfairness. Let annoying people know that you are not happy with them or when angered by them.
h) Defend your good values and self-representations and know kind of person you are debating since there could be those not worthy debating with or even wasting time on. In that case take them the way they are and give-up on them or chose to ignore whatever, mis-representations they bring-up in future –as you focus time and attention on what means lot to you or what is most important since you could have noted how time wasting it would be dealing with some people. Make them not to matter any more in future while you keep a distance away from them.
i) Focus on activities that bring you success and happiness.
j) Look for and focus on what is good and real by sense, feeling and touch. The three elements must exist before responding to concluding on any incident.
k) Find trust-worthy people -with whom to constantly discuss emerging issues and those of conflict type
l) Ensure time for your self everyday after hectic time, a time of self-reflection, having refreshments, a time to plan and re-new values and plan actions for success, harmonious living and healthy living or hygiene aspects of you. It could also be a time to attend to hobbies and favorable time with friends.
m) Create distance and boundaries for toxic people around you. These show how much they can influence you or have you respond to their actions. There are those you just have to ignore or at best leave a high and/or diplomatic hand-shake.
n) Choosing freely what would work for you and leaving out what is useless and destructive or distractive.
o) Acting on problems as they arise to promote personal mental stability.
p) Having private consultant and consulting him or her upon extremes.
q) Understanding and making decisions basing on who you are
r) Reviewing social circles in ones meditation time. Some of the people may have changes their ways towards you to allow some degree of interaction.
s) Saying hi or hullo could be universal that must not be ignored even to your ardent enemy.
t) Having time for self-stimulation and at least four intervals of laughter in a day
u) Continue hoping for what you have not achieved. Hoping soon motivates you to develop solutions and action ways to success.
v) Having a duty to examine self before examining other. In many cases people are the same or have similar problems. You would find self-tolerance and for others along the way.
w) Focussed living: on cherished values and beliefs –that are reviewed during meditation time
x) Sharing vision with trusted others to help build self esteem and/or confidence in achieving what you aspire for.
y) Try to reason around most of the frequent troubling experiences that you encounter. Most of the answers could be got through simple reasoning.
z) Focusing on the good aspects of self and achievements made. This promotes self-trust, self-esteem and/or confidence.
aa) Re-visiting your spiritual status while mindful of excess that could result to through extremist religious practices rather than abundant positives obtainable from spirituality as a whole –untainted by man’s selfish interest for self-glorification.
bb) Identifying warning signs and seeking advice from knowledgeable, experienced and skilled professional.
cc) Loving and caring for yourself. This must be a constant or day to day reminder for your-self.

Contact Author on:

+256774336277
www.situationhealthanalysis.blogspot.com
In Collaboration with the Integrated Mental Health Services –Uganda (IMHS-UG)
Imhs_ug@yahoo.com
waiswajacobo@yahoo.co.uk

If a signal device showed take-off to safety or to flourish sign, it would be wrong to object. Opportunism involves foregoing or disapproving one thing for something else, since only one of the two or a few of the many can be selected. In many cases, a force-pull to self would be greater than to others. The others’ category could only be thought of later and only if need arose. Longman dictionary of contemporary English, page 1156 defines an opportunist as someone, who uses every opportunity to gain power, money or unfair advantages. From the definition, only one person or a few of the many benefit from a project (s) they founded. On the other hand, perception of “unfairness” would tend to be by people, who never gained from a similar opportunity. For instance, after the 2001 general elections, Uganda could neither have two presidents nor two members of parliament per constituency.

The world of economics tells us about foregoing certain demands of goods and services, but never stipulates whether some people must die for others to live. A productive population, though, matters most for the economy to prosper. Statistics world too provides different ranges of events from highest to lowest and vice-versa overtime, which help policy makers to understand and predict possibilities of the future. The meaning here is that things cannot always be the same, but can be re-adjusted. Also, as if by nature, classifications develop as some people maneuver through their way to success, like it were justifying a common impression that people cannot have the same footing. But evolutionary science, wholesomely accepts loss of life as new generations form.

Traditions and cultures all over the world recognize social classification, where people from powerful families and of high social stature or race receive special treatment. This prompts some sections of society to turn round and fight back in the name of injustice, while others claim justice exists by inheritance or God’s will. However, the different backgrounds, environmental stressors and personality-dictated approaches or individual strength and weakness, and a combination or acting in isolation, would explain better much of what we are. A number of people, though, who struggle for dignified life regardless of the background, could be found. Barack Obama, the Unites States presidential candidate, who going against racial and color obstacles as his inspiration could be a good example. He uses “we can” “and because we can” slogan to elevate himself and followers forward. Can injustice be a motivation for self-advancement?

On the career front, people with leadership and entrepreneurship abilities tend to be driven by opportunism, as would for investors and corporatists, whose interests can be strongly above any other.  Convey (1990) reveals that both character ethic and personality ethic play a role in transformation of individuals.  As adopted values bring about a certain character of a person, personality, on one hand, promotes positive thinking and self-belief. In both, positive individual sense would be most important. Such transformations could potentially occur not only at individual level, but at group and organization level as well. Was injustice a reservation for the underachievers, and justice for the most successful or lucky ones?

In his book: seven habits of highly effective people, Convey stressed the developmental phases as; dependence, independence and interdependence that all people undergo to reach their potential, and be able to give back to communities. In all, there must be opportunities to constantly take care of. With increasingly limited resources, as population grows, difficulties like; attainment of higher education and accessibility to clean water, unemployment, stress on the environmental resources and communities would ensue. This time round everyone suffers regardless of the class, as developers and communities conflict over land and other economic amenities. 

Makerere University has not been an exception of what are being pressured to change. Public pressure, along with presence other competing universities, both local and international, could help revolutionarize the ancient institution into what its ancestors had dreamed of -as the Harvard University of Africa. Among other things, we could, for example, want to see flexible class-work schedules for graduate students since most of them have to work to sponsor their studies. Sadly also, its public relations department left the university at the mercy of even rumors and gossips –most of which seemingly exaggerated. A lot of visible achievements are ignored by the critics as if there is a deliberate move to fail public institutions in favor of the private sector. But before the year 2000, noticeably the department under Henry Mayega was most active. The then PRO kept the public university free from external shocks and preserved its good image as he constantly clarified issues from the public. It is, really, acting too brave to continuously face and freely get a public beating. In its fast renaissance, first on the plan menu could be the need for the public relations department to undergo mending.

Under extreme circumstances, whilst in resources’ conflict, social classes collapse and rebuilding begins –something that would explain 2001 Zimbabwe land bonanza and 1972 expulsion of Asians in Uganda . Actually, observers say Uganda would be at the same level of development as Malaysia and Indonesia had Idi Amin not expelled Asians. But military misadventures, ambitious experimentation of the AK47 and tribal rifts could not let Uganda take off. It is surprising to note that Zimbabwe land re-distribution only arrested a feeling of economic oppression rather than save the country from collapse. Fortunately or unfortunately, ZANU/PF exit could save the situation and allow re-building process assumptive that MDC’s Morgan will never get possessed by Mugabe’s ghost.

At best, to guarantee fairness, conflicting situations would call for a compromise regardless of their intensity as well as make it a culture (to compromise). In Kenya , it was extended to power-sharing between the opposition’s Raila Odinga and presidential-seat claimant, Mwai Kibaki. The bad situation in Kenya was managed before society would collapse for the situation to order rebuilding, but credit goes to diplomats, who helped bring the country back to its feet. Otherwise, a number of voices had predicted Kenya as destined to become 1994 Rwanda .

In his structure of scientific revolutions, Kuhn (1962) explained the concept of paradigm shift as “series of peaceful interludes punctuated intellectually violent revolutions.” In success of such revolutions, the opportunistic person’s characteristic of disapproving other things and people would be most visible if he or she was desperate to move to the next developmental stage -amidst conflicts. This would, perhaps, support a notion that there must be conflict for changes or development to take place. Conflicts of any form may never be avoided. Intellectual debates too cannot be underestimated, as face-off time in form of verbal “artilleries” and cross-firings, where the most dominant and “fit” dictates fate of “unfit”, could potentially transform people’s perception of problem areas. The implication could be that people must relentlessly fight battles and wars, both verbal and combat to realize their dreams, interests and natural rights. It seems the future could feature lots of civil strife, ceasefires and peace-talks.

Experience has, however, shown that it is exhausted belligerents, who give in to ceasefire and peace-talks. Still and always, negotiations would be the brightest way to go regardless of the war phase and its strong justification. Simply, there must be respect for fellow human beings and their right to exist. But good or bad life could potentially be determined by the nature of the dominant or victor ideology and beliefs, and whether they are accepted or resisted. This could require society to identify groups and individuals with self-defeating values and help dissolve them or institute negotiation and rehabilitation programmes for the perpetuators.  Kibwetere, a “spiritual” leader, who in the year 2000 led several followers to death, may not be the last man to have developed a dangerous belief and lifestyle, others could come-by. 

Misuse of religion is society’s growing problem. There could be a crack-down on it as the case with drugs abuse, fraud and robbery. Recent research on adolescents living with HIV/AIDS in Uganda has implicated some renowned born-again churches that ask their followers to abandon Anti-retro-viral Drugs (ARVs) for a spiritual remedy. Yet counteracting evidence showed that people continued to die after abandoning ARVs. This was tantamount to being accessory -to murder, and such churches could be brought to book! Rather, as a recommendation, a combination of spiritual-health living and medication (and positive living aspects) than barely spirituality was found helpful at building resilience or resistance against ill-condition as well as enabling people live “normal” lives.

Marxists believed that the oppressed people would at one time rise up massively against the oppressor, then a dangerous opportunist. They did not, however, indicate whether the reasons for the uprising were differences in levels development, historical backgrounds and endowments (natural or artificial) or persecution and deliberate discrimination. The revolutionary governments tended to ignore issues like community mobilization and participation -by the leadership towards economic development and of other forms after assuming power. They soon concentrated all resources on strengthening the state machinery. But history has shown that worshippers of Marxism are a kind of opportunists and up-coming capitalists or so in disguise, who want to take advantage of a majority opinion (dependence) to elevate them-selves to power (independence). Unfortunately with them, sooner or later they abandon their supporters as currently insignificant, and only enjoy benefits solely or with a few trusted fans. The fans could be the type, whose trustworthiness was so hard-tested that their resignation only exited the regime –something they (state) could not afford to wish or think about.

As a reward, the fans could have a privilege to bribe, engage in fraud, to rob, to commit “simple” murders, to assault, to recklessly kill, to deprive and suffocate citizens of their rights, to persecute, to de-personalize, to de-value, to perpetuate racial cleansing and to live without a constitution but led by leader’s mood. With these, of course, a new justification for a revolution could be well understood by the aggrieved. Multi-faceted development miseries would be a major motivation to rebel. Such mis-rulers must definitely be eroded by the uprising, according to Marxist thinking. It would, therefore, be important for a sincere regime or revolutionary to constantly seek the interests and wishes of the people, and protect them from repressive acts of its fans.

But for the sake of community development, none of the ideologies (socialism and capitalism) would be pursued in isolation. In fact, socialism alone would act as a vehicle by which the poor get organized -to liberate themselves from poverty and misrule. At one point, the socialist would emerge capitalist, with element of self-thinking or opportunism. Should Zimbabwe and the World trust MDC’s Morgan after being helped to get power? But a wiser socialist beneficiary would at an achievement stage give back to the community in sincerity. Many big firms try to play fairly with their consumers in appreciation for the goals reached. They, for example, do it through promotions, scholarships and donation activities.

And initial change, as would be expected, faces a lot of opposition -regardless of the value it carries. Even Jesus Christ, was stormily opposed in spite of the good news he presented. It is after he was harassed, killed and later defied death that Christians all over the world began to belief him as the truth. Whether the land reforms are good for Uganda or the National Resistance Movement/Organization (NRM/O) will fail and only celebrated later, is another issue. We are simply in the world of sacrifices that are renewed or changed when they no longer apply. We only have to respect and listen to voices when uncertainty roars.

The Disgruntled

The unsuspecting, seemingly docile and the currently disgruntled would fall in this category. The unsuspicious and docile could have chances of joining those in the struggle for social justice -which looks normal rather than an insult. Struggling itself, is a choice and process that calls for belief and determinations to re-discover one’s desired self, knowledge and continued attachment to treasured belief and value system –with which  life is sustained.

The dangerously arousing problem would be if there is presence of a deliberate and systematic underlying policy to deprive, to frustrate, to close all openings to prosperity, to de-populate, to de-value, and to de-face. What a danger! In the face of such, effort must be focused on struggling until the system is overturned and human dignity realized while people, who deliberated chose to suffer get identified and placed under custody, not in Luzira, but at a mental health facility for help.

Election Rigging

Surely, for those who have contested for leadership positions through general elections could testify that preparing for it has no room for anything like defeat. The mentality ever is; “I will win” or “we shall win.” This becomes the driving force to the very end of campaigns, where a new and strange vocabulary like losing could, probably, be met. It is never easy to accept it when it comes. Losing, to them, never makes sense and meaning. No wonder, they are called presidential hopefuls, not hope-fools. Being hopeful is all they are made of and carry it to the end. Some even get heart attacks and die! For the doubting Thomases, they withdraw, just participate or never stand at all. Candidates only feel sensations of power-seat as if hallucinating. If a one morning, results showed the contrary, we could hear options as going to Luweero triangle for a protracted war. So what is this “thing” called election rigging? Does it, like PRA, exist or just a little mental problem? And what should members of the opposition expect if they only campaign on the eve of Election Day? At large there must be a problem that century’s ancestors of democracy failed to address or did not see.

But the general elections in Kenya were the most dramatic that would cause even the un-born baby to “kick the walls of the womb” in agitation. It was a kind of robbery in broad day light, given the timing of announcing winner and inauguration. It carried braver faces to cheat that way. At least, elsewhere, election commission chairmen find all means to institute a good tally system whether voters are felled across countries or ghost voters invoked to vote, and figures clearly stated with sweeping confidence. In Kenya , they did not have such experience. The Electoral Commission of Kenya Chairman was another actor. He showed fraud symptoms when he could not specify whether the “outcomes” were consistent with the ballot papers under his custody (refer to: Butagira and Othieno: January 3rd 2008, Daily Monitor page1). But, thanks to the steps taken to make peace and form a government of national unity so that the country comes first, and power fights second. Kenyans need congratulations over this.

Overall, in order to make sense where there is nonsense of opportunism, the disgruntled and election rigging, leadership must help organize its citizens to develop without regional, political, ancestry and cultural bias. In the same respect, personally and socially dignifying values and interests must be respected and divergent views tolerated.

Attempts, also, must be made to ensure that resources of the country benefit all its people, and peace and stability preserved through negotiating and revisiting social contracts with the recommended democratic ethics -to transform their lives, while a culture of talking peace is carried on to the future generations. Efforts too need to be concentrated on promotion of non-violence strategies of mass-boycott, mass demonstrations and mass denunciation instead of armed struggle until human and environmental values are put at the center of development. Having acted that way, opportunism, the disgruntled and election rigging would cease being no sense issues.

Jacob Waiswa
The writer is a situation health analyst
waiswajacobo@yahoo.co.uk
www.situationhealthanalyst.blogspot.com