The Emotional Well-Being Institute (EWBI), launched in Geneva, conducted a Forum in Melbourne during Mental Health Week to explore issues of Emotional Well Being in the Australian context, particularly among Australia’s multicultural communities and international student communities. The experience of refugees and asylum seekers often lacks any form of emotional well-being, particularly when they are separated from their families and/or lose hope.
We follow the philosophy that animates the livelihood of Ants.
Like the Ants, we value teamwork and persevere until we discover approaches, methods and solutions to emotional well-being issues that are appropriate to different communities living under different circumstances.
Like ants, we are purpose driven and work as a team.
We muster our resources to address emotional well-being issues with vigour, diligence and determination
EWBI’s mission is “to leverage the emotional well-being of individuals, groups and communities for positive engagements towards building flourishing societies”. This means “doing good” which leads to a sense of “feeling goodness” and “feeling well”.
GDP is not the baseline measurement of the happiness nor well-being of peoples. “Why is GDP a standard measurement for growth when it can’t account for the most basic factor affecting the productivity of workers on a daily basis?”
The Emotional Well-Being Institute uses Seligman’s PERMA model of happiness in helping to deal with emotional well-being issues. PERMA stands for:
- Positive emotion;
- Engagement;
- Relationships;
- Meaning; and
- Accomplishments
The Emotional Well-Being Institute is committed to leveraging emotional well-being towards happiness, fulfilment and productivity in the context of meeting five of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals:
- Goal 3: Good Health and Well-being
- Goal 4: Quality Education
- Goal 5: Gender Equality
- Goal 16: Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions
- Goal 17: Partnerships for the Goals.
In question time to the EWBI it was raised that the Institute should look into the emotional well-being of millions of displaced population and international students who are ‘exploited’ and treated as a means of revenue.
After lunch, the forum broke into working groups to discuss the current barriers and possible actions that EWBI can take to address emotional well-being issues on local, national and global level.
The following measures were listed:
-Be open to having genuine conversations.
-Listen to others.
-Project a positive attitude.
-Embrace cultural differences and acknowledge the similarities.
-Think local but act global.
-Every aspect of your life can have an impact in your life – from your food habits to what you do in your alone time.
-Find the time to balance technology dependence and human interactions.
-Train experts in current services to identify the right way to deal with a person’s emotional issues.
PANEL DISCUSSION
One panellist cited the prevalence of PTSD among journalists especially female journalists who are more likely than males to experience emotional abuse in their work. Two out of five female journalists had experienced sexual harassment.
It was also shared that experience with international students who had gone through emotional trauma caused by cultural isolation, loneliness, and difficulties faced in a new academic learning environment. She had helped students address those issues.
Another panellist went on to share that Emotional well-being for more than 65 million refugees in the world is not a concept, but a reality that starts from the moment they lose hope, identity, loved ones and family. They have learnt how to survive from staying in refugee camps and come to terms with being a refugee.
Refugees sometimes face insurmountable challenges during their resettlement from negative media coverage, stereotypes, the difficulties in adapting to a new culture, language, recognition of their qualification and experience from back home, discrimination, and so forth.
EWBI should focus on effective and practical strategies in helping refugees manage and cope with emotional well-being issues. The success of these strategies is measured by how refugees are using the available services, and ultimately to feel that they are part of the wider community.
Another panellist said that 150 million people in India are dealing daily with emotional well-being issues. The majority are not treated. India recorded the highest rate of youth suicide (per capita) in the world in 2018, according to WHO estimates.
Well-being is fairly easy to understand; however, when we add “emotional” to the word, the concept and experience becomes more complex and delicate.
The suicidal ideation of international students was also cited. This is an emotional issue often diagnosed by doctors as bipolar, which exacerbates the situation because international students come from diverse cultural backgrounds with different understandings of emotional well-being.
The influence of social media on emotional well-being was aired. An example was given of the teenage girl in Sarawak province of Malaysia who committed suicide following an Instagram poll where she asked her followers whether she should die or live. Her suicide led the state government to take steps to address mental health issues.
How do we communicate ways to improve emotional well-being across cultures, and how can we start a conversation?
GROUP PRESENTATIONS
In the Australian context, the key points in taking actions to address emotional well-being issues are:
- Public education and raising awareness through engagement activities and knowledge sharing.
- At the national level, embed emotional well-being subjects in primary school curriculum.
- At the global level, rethink and redefine concepts of wealth and healing of the community through the emotional well-being window.
- Provide communities with easy access to the literature on emotional well-being.
- Promote collaboration among NGO’s and state authorities.
- Use social media for positive public relations and story telling to raise the Emotional Quotient rate of different communities.
The challenges are:
- How prepared are we in facing and taking up the challenges of emotional well-being given the prevailing stigma and fear of talking about it?
- Where are the funding sources for emotional well-being programs to support international students?
- Ways to overcome: collaboration among organisations
The barriers of addressing emotional well-being issues are the lack of financial resources to support emotional well-being programs, especially for international students; and the lack of information, hence the lack of awareness (for instance of emotional well-being terminologies), lack of acceptance, and unpreparedness to seek help from psychologists and other mental health professionals.
The Forum concluded with a meeting of interested persons in setting up an Australian Chapter of the Emotional Well-Being Institute to be based in Melbourne. Steps will be taken to write up the Articles of Association and Constitution for ratification by the Emotional Well-Being Institute board.
Cluster Directors will also form their own regional teams to promote Emotional Well-Being education in schools and adult education centres, media training and aged care.
