Senior House Officer at Clarevue Psychiatric Hospital Dr Teri-Ann Joseph is urging members of the public not to make fun of people who exhibit symptoms of mental illnesses.
Joseph told state media people suffering from mental illnesses sometimes remove their clothing and walk naked in public.
The doctor was swift to condemn the actions of individuals who might decide to film a person exhibiting such behaviour.
“If you see someone behaving in that manner, clearly, there is something wrong with that person and to film it, to share it on social media, calls into question our motives, it calls into question what we’ve really become as human beings,” Joseph said.
She said people had a duty to report such incidents to the relevant authorities.
“If you saw something like that in person, I hope you that you would have called the ambulance or called the police so that that person can get help. If you saw that over social media, that’s not cool. That’s really not cool.”
She said sharing videos of people exhibiting symptoms of mental illness fosters stigma and discrimination.
“It’s not cool to laugh at that person, it’s not cool to videotape that person, it’s not cool to share it. It really isn’t cool because you know what, mental health disorders do not discriminate. One day it could be you, one day it could be your family member and if the table were turned, how would you like it if you were filmed and that was just spread on social media?” she asked.
Saturday will be recognized as World Mental Health Day, which is an international day for global mental health education, awareness and advocacy against social stigma.