My visit to Psychiatric Hospital was eventful and fulfilling. I had already told you about that experience. I am in my study all right. I already proposed to do more study these days than being on the net.However my mind just wandered to a statement made by one of my senior colleagues in that hospital. He said that the scope of Psychiatry is wide because even in the professional exam, someone can just record a scene at the market place and ask questions about it. That is the practicality of Psychiatry; it has a lot of relevence in everyday life.
That is the thought that preoccupied my mind as I recapped all that transpired today. I surely saw the relevence of what I am doing in terms of establishing and maintaining good relationship be it at home, at work, at the place of worship and in the wider social context.
Communication is one of the most important ingredients of good relationships.Lack of good communication skills can spoil an otherwise cordial relationship. It can sometimes determine how successful our marriage, career or any other human endeavour we find ourselves will be.
Take for instance the case of an employee who decided to travel for days without the knowledge of the employer due to a certain so-called important issue. No permission sort and therefore non-granted. Yet the same employee is now evokes God when the employer decided to deduct the wage for the number of days that the employee was not at work. Maybe simple communication of the need to be away for certain pressing issues would have forestall such! Many people find it difficult to hold down a good job because of poor communication skills. They assume a lot of things, as if the next person can read the mind. They are lackadaisical about the work they do and only offer a lot of fantastic reasons for whatever lapses they have only when they are found out. It has been said that 'one's attitude determines the altitude'. They never really amount to much in terms of holding down a job or building career.
Take another case of two colleagues. One made a simple request of the other to take his call duty because he had reasons to travel at that particular time. The friend promised to check his schedule and get back to the colleague if he can take the call or not. He never did! Even when his friend was calling to find out about his decision and to know if he should make alternative arrangements or not he didn't pick his calls. The friend sent him text messages to know his decision, he never replied them! A simple no would have been okay. He however did not communicate with his colleague and yet did not take the call duty! He justified himself on having something very important to do. Simple communication about his decision would have solved the problem. Talk about an essential ingredient in relationships. If their is no effective communication channels, it can lead to prejudices, dangerious assumptions, gossips and even outright resentments.
There is no type of human relationship in which the need for communication is more obvious than in the area of marriage. A couple got married and later started having problems because the husband believed that God wants him to be in Nigeria and the wife insists that she must live abroad. Eventually they had to go separate ways because of this and other irreconcilable differences! One wonders if they never got to share their different believes and harmonise it before signing the dotted lines. Talk about communication.
Now, relationships are essential parts of the human society. The measures of the health of our relationships can give an insight into our personality which is a very important component of our mental health and well being or lack of it as the case may be. If effective communication can help in building and mentaining healthy relationships, it could be said that effective communication can help improve and mentain good mental health.
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