Morality and Mental Health
You would have to be living on a deserted island to not have noticed that in the past several weeks, the news has been dominated by scandal. Be that sexual or financial it appears that folk have taken leave of doing the right thing and rather doing what is in their best interests alone and be damned with everyone else.
I am not a preachy person, so I will not debate the rights and wrongs of the current scandals, but what I will say is that we in the mental health professions should be looking at how these actions impact the mental health of our clients. Most people like to have certain assurances in the world, and one of the most basic is the idea of right and wrong. Take this away, and a person can feel adrift and lost. Add to this, that when famous people engage in questionable behaviour it leads to more questions as well. Impressionable people may start to think that if so and so does this then it must be ok. This can lead to personal crises which can then lead to significant mental distress.
So in all the hype of the recent sexual and financial scandals, spare a thought for what these things are doing to our mental health.
