Editorial

For over a decade, 18 African nations have been ravaged by war, exposing military personnel and civilians to violence and trauma. As a result, one hundred million Africans now suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and in parts of Africa, 50 percent or more of the population is afflicted with PTSD. Its effects debilitate individuals and ripple into their families and communities. PTSD affects not only military combatants but also anyone who witnesses or experiences extremely terrifying, tragic or traumatic events such as natural disasters, rape, torture or kidnapping.

PTSD comes with a variety of symptoms, including inability to sleep, horrific and intense flashbacks to high-stress combat experiences, depression, and difficulty relating to friends, family and spouse, etc. The brains and personalities of those with PTSD simply have not been able to process the intensity of past trauma. These experiences continue to haunt and debilitate the lives of those suffering from its effects.

Research has shown that the practice of the Transcendental Meditation (TM) technique can result in large reductions in PTSD symptoms in short periods of time. In a study on Congolese refugees, 90% of subjects improved into the "non-symptomatic" range within 30 days and stayed that way throughout the 135 days of the research (2). A follow-up study replicated those findings and showed that two thirds of the benefit occurred within 10 days of learning the TM technique (3). Effect sizes were larger than those seen with other behavioral and meditation, relaxation or stress management techniques. 

American Vietnam-era veterans with PTSD were taught TM and showed significant reductions in anxiety, depression, and negative personality traits (4). Similarly, Iraq and Afghanistan veterans had a 50% reduction in PTS symptoms in a three-month period after learning the TM technique (5).

TM is a cost-effective, easily learned, effortless mental technique from the ancient meditative traditions of India. Over five million people worldwide have learned this non-religious technique. It is taught in a systematic, highly structured and standardized manner by trained teachers. Over 350 peer-reviewed studies have documented its positive effects on mental and physical health.

The efficacy of TM practice has been confirmed by the American Heart Association, which concluded that TM is the only behavioral technique that can be recommended for lowering hypertension (6). Previous meta-analyses have also shown TM to be the most effective behavioral technique in reducing anxiety (7).

TM practice produces a state of "restful alertness" - deep rest that allows for a kind of passive processing of trauma. TM dissolves the deep stresses incurred by trauma on the physiological level and thereby attenuates identification with the trauma on the mental level.

During TM practice brain wave activity becomes highly coherent, an indicator of orderliness and brain integration. Biological age and stress hormones such as cortisol, epinephrine and norepinephrine decrease. Indices of relaxation and well-being such as serotonin levels, galvanic skin resistance, and immune-modulatory effects all increase (8). Although conventional approaches to PTSD can improve self-confidence, sense of mastery and coping mechanisms, TM practice apparently goes deeper. It provides a broader spectrum of benefits, including increases in ego development, executive functioning, personality integration, creativity, problem-solving abilities and intelligence. More "side benefits" of TM practice include significant global improvement in psychological functioning and well-being beyond disorder-specific symptom reduction (8).

In addition, African military personnel and veterans may be hesitant to seek PTSD treatment because doing so might be viewed as a sign of weakness. TM is a self-sufficient technique, free from the possible stigma of mental health services. The faces and words of people with PTSD whose lives have been changed by TM practice can reveal far more than this article.

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Ngwa Bertrand

15.Oct.2015

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Shakespeare’s villainous Iachimo may also advise us “to leave unspoken that which, to be spoke, would torture thee.” Nobody asked Paul Biya to express worry about the performance of his government in his December 2013 New Year address. Since he did so, Cameroonians expected him to proceed immediately to form a new, more effective and efficient government, especially because it was not the first time he was complaining about the performance of government.

The government had been regularly discredited not only by scandals, but also by the appearance of its being incapable of meeting the tasks of the day, most of which were undreamt of in November 1982. Government had cut the image of a quarrelsome lot working in dispersed ranks; it seemed to have lost sight of its “core business.” Strategic thinking for the urgent transformative actions needed seemed to be absent, but all mind-readers were predicting that the “overall” boss, when he would decide to act, would only move ponds around the chessboard, as usual.

All of 2014 was a long enough wait, but to extend it to 2015 seemed to be too much! Since nature abhors vacuums, the long wait filled the vacuum with doubt and complacency; the government seemed to be doing nothing, just resting on its laurels, waiting for the unknown. Inertia became the order of the day, and society became restive. The best option seemed to be to put pressure from outside to precipitate action. Dozens of “leaked” governments were published in the press. Stories of wrongdoing in the presidency were spun into sources of leaks of new governments. Protests by our valiant soldiers for their dues were mockinglylinked to the advent of a new government. And so expectation of a new government became the talk of the town. 

It is usually said that public opinion allows the nation to participate in its own affairs because it is an invisible power that rules even in the palaces of kings. Even if the limited political experience of the “opinion” makers caused public opinion to be dominated by general and speculative ideas, this did not diminish its power. It was all like our traditional smoking of the rat mole out of the comfort of its hole with the smoke of public opinion.

And so the new government was smoked out at last! As mind-readers had predicted, it involved mainly the movement of ponds around the chessboard. It did not include the SDF and UDC that public opinion had so pompously included in the government. It did not also include those that feed on the carcass of Um Nyobe in total disregard of his legacy and his heritage.

Once the list of the “new” government hit the public place, the paradigm of opinion shifted to critique. Most critiques and analyses have been directed more at individuals for their disobedience or corruption or lack of solidarity, less at systems. Politics may be more about the citizen than the private individual, but solidarity, whether between members of a government or between individual citizens, is the foundation of politics.If critical public opinion finds those who lost their ministerial posts guilty as individuals, it will mean that they were ill-prepared to be ministers; if they are guilty as ministers, it will be a condemnation of the whole system.

The “new” government will most obviously continue to waste the time of the country because it will be operating in the same system. It will face the same internal struggles against entrenched bureaucratic interests and a power-distribution architecture that encourages fraud and corruption. It will enter the same self-serving routine that is usually blind to outcomes.

Systemic institutions need to be strengthened by large-scale overhaul in government and public-sector agencies. Clear, enforceable rules of discipline that create a meritocratic environment and ethical behaviors that are friendly to creativity, innovation, and talent have to be present in all fronts. The “new” government needs to shed its CPDM divisive mindset and build a social consensus around growth-oriented strategies and policies by providing equal opportunity to all citizens, irrespective of political opinion, area of origin, gender, or religion.

If there are clear, transparent rules that can detect errors and fraud fast enough, the fallouts can be managed on a continuous basis. “Epervier” should no longer work in tedious cycles but on a continuous basis. With all the people that populate the prisons today because of corruption and fraud, there should be much familiarity with the tools and methods they used; these should be exploited to correct and strengthen existing systems, and to design tighter security of public funds. This will meet the common saying that prevention is better than cure. It will end the wasteful and shameful practice of punishing after the fact; of using the process to punish potential rivals.

The visionaries and the all-knowing humans variously called proletariats, Bolsheviks, communists that Karl Marx and others envisaged that would be produced and would only speak the fact, not argue or convince, eventually failed to emerge where the experiments for their production were conducted. They nevertheless emerged in Africa around the ‘60s at the head of the new countries that came to being at that time. Although they emerged without the “lightening of thought” that Marx said would cause their emergence, they have endured and prospered till today in Africa!

And so one of the problems with our “new” government is that like the one before it, the members will consider themselves as “creatures” of this type of being, and will work in fear and total submission –with the being representing their own “specter” that will haunt them throughout their ministerial tenure.

Societies can be governed only with ideas. Government must be open to itself and to society as a whole, so that governance ideas can be bounced back and forth to increase their chances of producing the good. All governments need strong leadership not only from the top but from all its members.

Details

Ngwa Bertrand

15.Oct.2015

Hits: 1138

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For over a decade, 18 African nations have been ravaged by war, exposing military personnel and civilians to violence and trauma. As a result, one hundred million Africans now suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and in parts of Africa, 50 percent or more of the population is afflicted with PTSD. Its effects debilitate individuals and ripple into their families and communities. PTSD affects not only military combatants but also anyone who witnesses or experiences extremely terrifying, tragic or traumatic events such as natural disasters, rape, torture or kidnapping.

PTSD comes with a variety of symptoms, including inability to sleep, horrific and intense flashbacks to high-stress combat experiences, depression, and difficulty relating to friends, family and spouse, etc. The brains and personalities of those with PTSD simply have not been able to process the intensity of past trauma. These experiences continue to haunt and debilitate the lives of those suffering from its effects.

Research has shown that the practice of the Transcendental Meditation (TM) technique can result in large reductions in PTSD symptoms in short periods of time. In a study on Congolese refugees, 90% of subjects improved into the "non-symptomatic" range within 30 days and stayed that way throughout the 135 days of the research (2). A follow-up study replicated those findings and showed that two thirds of the benefit occurred within 10 days of learning the TM technique (3). Effect sizes were larger than those seen with other behavioral and meditation, relaxation or stress management techniques. 

American Vietnam-era veterans with PTSD were taught TM and showed significant reductions in anxiety, depression, and negative personality traits (4). Similarly, Iraq and Afghanistan veterans had a 50% reduction in PTS symptoms in a three-month period after learning the TM technique (5).

TM is a cost-effective, easily learned, effortless mental technique from the ancient meditative traditions of India. Over five million people worldwide have learned this non-religious technique. It is taught in a systematic, highly structured and standardized manner by trained teachers. Over 350 peer-reviewed studies have documented its positive effects on mental and physical health.

The efficacy of TM practice has been confirmed by the American Heart Association, which concluded that TM is the only behavioral technique that can be recommended for lowering hypertension (6). Previous meta-analyses have also shown TM to be the most effective behavioral technique in reducing anxiety (7).

TM practice produces a state of "restful alertness" - deep rest that allows for a kind of passive processing of trauma. TM dissolves the deep stresses incurred by trauma on the physiological level and thereby attenuates identification with the trauma on the mental level.

During TM practice brain wave activity becomes highly coherent, an indicator of orderliness and brain integration. Biological age and stress hormones such as cortisol, epinephrine and norepinephrine decrease. Indices of relaxation and well-being such as serotonin levels, galvanic skin resistance, and immune-modulatory effects all increase (8). Although conventional approaches to PTSD can improve self-confidence, sense of mastery and coping mechanisms, TM practice apparently goes deeper. It provides a broader spectrum of benefits, including increases in ego development, executive functioning, personality integration, creativity, problem-solving abilities and intelligence. More "side benefits" of TM practice include significant global improvement in psychological functioning and well-being beyond disorder-specific symptom reduction (8).

In addition, African military personnel and veterans may be hesitant to seek PTSD treatment because doing so might be viewed as a sign of weakness. TM is a self-sufficient technique, free from the possible stigma of mental health services. The faces and words of people with PTSD whose lives have been changed by TM practice can reveal far more than this article.

Details

Ngwa Bertrand

15.Oct.2015

Hits: 1339

Write comment (0 Comments)

Shakespeare’s villainous Iachimo may also advise us “to leave unspoken that which, to be spoke, would torture thee.” Nobody asked Paul Biya to express worry about the performance of his government in his December 2013 New Year address. Since he did so, Cameroonians expected him to proceed immediately to form a new, more effective and efficient government, especially because it was not the first time he was complaining about the performance of government.

The government had been regularly discredited not only by scandals, but also by the appearance of its being incapable of meeting the tasks of the day, most of which were undreamt of in November 1982. Government had cut the image of a quarrelsome lot working in dispersed ranks; it seemed to have lost sight of its “core business.” Strategic thinking for the urgent transformative actions needed seemed to be absent, but all mind-readers were predicting that the “overall” boss, when he would decide to act, would only move ponds around the chessboard, as usual.

All of 2014 was a long enough wait, but to extend it to 2015 seemed to be too much! Since nature abhors vacuums, the long wait filled the vacuum with doubt and complacency; the government seemed to be doing nothing, just resting on its laurels, waiting for the unknown. Inertia became the order of the day, and society became restive. The best option seemed to be to put pressure from outside to precipitate action. Dozens of “leaked” governments were published in the press. Stories of wrongdoing in the presidency were spun into sources of leaks of new governments. Protests by our valiant soldiers for their dues were mockinglylinked to the advent of a new government. And so expectation of a new government became the talk of the town. 

It is usually said that public opinion allows the nation to participate in its own affairs because it is an invisible power that rules even in the palaces of kings. Even if the limited political experience of the “opinion” makers caused public opinion to be dominated by general and speculative ideas, this did not diminish its power. It was all like our traditional smoking of the rat mole out of the comfort of its hole with the smoke of public opinion.

And so the new government was smoked out at last! As mind-readers had predicted, it involved mainly the movement of ponds around the chessboard. It did not include the SDF and UDC that public opinion had so pompously included in the government. It did not also include those that feed on the carcass of Um Nyobe in total disregard of his legacy and his heritage.

Once the list of the “new” government hit the public place, the paradigm of opinion shifted to critique. Most critiques and analyses have been directed more at individuals for their disobedience or corruption or lack of solidarity, less at systems. Politics may be more about the citizen than the private individual, but solidarity, whether between members of a government or between individual citizens, is the foundation of politics.If critical public opinion finds those who lost their ministerial posts guilty as individuals, it will mean that they were ill-prepared to be ministers; if they are guilty as ministers, it will be a condemnation of the whole system.

The “new” government will most obviously continue to waste the time of the country because it will be operating in the same system. It will face the same internal struggles against entrenched bureaucratic interests and a power-distribution architecture that encourages fraud and corruption. It will enter the same self-serving routine that is usually blind to outcomes.

Systemic institutions need to be strengthened by large-scale overhaul in government and public-sector agencies. Clear, enforceable rules of discipline that create a meritocratic environment and ethical behaviors that are friendly to creativity, innovation, and talent have to be present in all fronts. The “new” government needs to shed its CPDM divisive mindset and build a social consensus around growth-oriented strategies and policies by providing equal opportunity to all citizens, irrespective of political opinion, area of origin, gender, or religion.

If there are clear, transparent rules that can detect errors and fraud fast enough, the fallouts can be managed on a continuous basis. “Epervier” should no longer work in tedious cycles but on a continuous basis. With all the people that populate the prisons today because of corruption and fraud, there should be much familiarity with the tools and methods they used; these should be exploited to correct and strengthen existing systems, and to design tighter security of public funds. This will meet the common saying that prevention is better than cure. It will end the wasteful and shameful practice of punishing after the fact; of using the process to punish potential rivals.

The visionaries and the all-knowing humans variously called proletariats, Bolsheviks, communists that Karl Marx and others envisaged that would be produced and would only speak the fact, not argue or convince, eventually failed to emerge where the experiments for their production were conducted. They nevertheless emerged in Africa around the ‘60s at the head of the new countries that came to being at that time. Although they emerged without the “lightening of thought” that Marx said would cause their emergence, they have endured and prospered till today in Africa!

And so one of the problems with our “new” government is that like the one before it, the members will consider themselves as “creatures” of this type of being, and will work in fear and total submission –with the being representing their own “specter” that will haunt them throughout their ministerial tenure.

Societies can be governed only with ideas. Government must be open to itself and to society as a whole, so that governance ideas can be bounced back and forth to increase their chances of producing the good. All governments need strong leadership not only from the top but from all its members.

Details

Ngwa Bertrand

15.Oct.2015

Hits: 1244

Write comment (0 Comments)

For over a decade, 18 African nations have been ravaged by war, exposing military personnel and civilians to violence and trauma. As a result, one hundred million Africans now suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and in parts of Africa, 50 percent or more of the population is afflicted with PTSD. Its effects debilitate individuals and ripple into their families and communities. PTSD affects not only military combatants but also anyone who witnesses or experiences extremely terrifying, tragic or traumatic events such as natural disasters, rape, torture or kidnapping.

PTSD comes with a variety of symptoms, including inability to sleep, horrific and intense flashbacks to high-stress combat experiences, depression, and difficulty relating to friends, family and spouse, etc. The brains and personalities of those with PTSD simply have not been able to process the intensity of past trauma. These experiences continue to haunt and debilitate the lives of those suffering from its effects.

Research has shown that the practice of the Transcendental Meditation (TM) technique can result in large reductions in PTSD symptoms in short periods of time. In a study on Congolese refugees, 90% of subjects improved into the "non-symptomatic" range within 30 days and stayed that way throughout the 135 days of the research (2). A follow-up study replicated those findings and showed that two thirds of the benefit occurred within 10 days of learning the TM technique (3). Effect sizes were larger than those seen with other behavioral and meditation, relaxation or stress management techniques. 

American Vietnam-era veterans with PTSD were taught TM and showed significant reductions in anxiety, depression, and negative personality traits (4). Similarly, Iraq and Afghanistan veterans had a 50% reduction in PTS symptoms in a three-month period after learning the TM technique (5).

TM is a cost-effective, easily learned, effortless mental technique from the ancient meditative traditions of India. Over five million people worldwide have learned this non-religious technique. It is taught in a systematic, highly structured and standardized manner by trained teachers. Over 350 peer-reviewed studies have documented its positive effects on mental and physical health.

The efficacy of TM practice has been confirmed by the American Heart Association, which concluded that TM is the only behavioral technique that can be recommended for lowering hypertension (6). Previous meta-analyses have also shown TM to be the most effective behavioral technique in reducing anxiety (7).

TM practice produces a state of "restful alertness" - deep rest that allows for a kind of passive processing of trauma. TM dissolves the deep stresses incurred by trauma on the physiological level and thereby attenuates identification with the trauma on the mental level.

During TM practice brain wave activity becomes highly coherent, an indicator of orderliness and brain integration. Biological age and stress hormones such as cortisol, epinephrine and norepinephrine decrease. Indices of relaxation and well-being such as serotonin levels, galvanic skin resistance, and immune-modulatory effects all increase (8). Although conventional approaches to PTSD can improve self-confidence, sense of mastery and coping mechanisms, TM practice apparently goes deeper. It provides a broader spectrum of benefits, including increases in ego development, executive functioning, personality integration, creativity, problem-solving abilities and intelligence. More "side benefits" of TM practice include significant global improvement in psychological functioning and well-being beyond disorder-specific symptom reduction (8).

In addition, African military personnel and veterans may be hesitant to seek PTSD treatment because doing so might be viewed as a sign of weakness. TM is a self-sufficient technique, free from the possible stigma of mental health services. The faces and words of people with PTSD whose lives have been changed by TM practice can reveal far more than this article.

Details

Ngwa Bertrand

15.Oct.2015

Hits: 1715

Write comment (0 Comments)

Shakespeare’s villainous Iachimo may also advise us “to leave unspoken that which, to be spoke, would torture thee.” Nobody asked Paul Biya to express worry about the performance of his government in his December 2013 New Year address. Since he did so, Cameroonians expected him to proceed immediately to form a new, more effective and efficient government, especially because it was not the first time he was complaining about the performance of government.

The government had been regularly discredited not only by scandals, but also by the appearance of its being incapable of meeting the tasks of the day, most of which were undreamt of in November 1982. Government had cut the image of a quarrelsome lot working in dispersed ranks; it seemed to have lost sight of its “core business.” Strategic thinking for the urgent transformative actions needed seemed to be absent, but all mind-readers were predicting that the “overall” boss, when he would decide to act, would only move ponds around the chessboard, as usual.

All of 2014 was a long enough wait, but to extend it to 2015 seemed to be too much! Since nature abhors vacuums, the long wait filled the vacuum with doubt and complacency; the government seemed to be doing nothing, just resting on its laurels, waiting for the unknown. Inertia became the order of the day, and society became restive. The best option seemed to be to put pressure from outside to precipitate action. Dozens of “leaked” governments were published in the press. Stories of wrongdoing in the presidency were spun into sources of leaks of new governments. Protests by our valiant soldiers for their dues were mockinglylinked to the advent of a new government. And so expectation of a new government became the talk of the town. 

It is usually said that public opinion allows the nation to participate in its own affairs because it is an invisible power that rules even in the palaces of kings. Even if the limited political experience of the “opinion” makers caused public opinion to be dominated by general and speculative ideas, this did not diminish its power. It was all like our traditional smoking of the rat mole out of the comfort of its hole with the smoke of public opinion.

And so the new government was smoked out at last! As mind-readers had predicted, it involved mainly the movement of ponds around the chessboard. It did not include the SDF and UDC that public opinion had so pompously included in the government. It did not also include those that feed on the carcass of Um Nyobe in total disregard of his legacy and his heritage.

Once the list of the “new” government hit the public place, the paradigm of opinion shifted to critique. Most critiques and analyses have been directed more at individuals for their disobedience or corruption or lack of solidarity, less at systems. Politics may be more about the citizen than the private individual, but solidarity, whether between members of a government or between individual citizens, is the foundation of politics.If critical public opinion finds those who lost their ministerial posts guilty as individuals, it will mean that they were ill-prepared to be ministers; if they are guilty as ministers, it will be a condemnation of the whole system.

The “new” government will most obviously continue to waste the time of the country because it will be operating in the same system. It will face the same internal struggles against entrenched bureaucratic interests and a power-distribution architecture that encourages fraud and corruption. It will enter the same self-serving routine that is usually blind to outcomes.

Systemic institutions need to be strengthened by large-scale overhaul in government and public-sector agencies. Clear, enforceable rules of discipline that create a meritocratic environment and ethical behaviors that are friendly to creativity, innovation, and talent have to be present in all fronts. The “new” government needs to shed its CPDM divisive mindset and build a social consensus around growth-oriented strategies and policies by providing equal opportunity to all citizens, irrespective of political opinion, area of origin, gender, or religion.

If there are clear, transparent rules that can detect errors and fraud fast enough, the fallouts can be managed on a continuous basis. “Epervier” should no longer work in tedious cycles but on a continuous basis. With all the people that populate the prisons today because of corruption and fraud, there should be much familiarity with the tools and methods they used; these should be exploited to correct and strengthen existing systems, and to design tighter security of public funds. This will meet the common saying that prevention is better than cure. It will end the wasteful and shameful practice of punishing after the fact; of using the process to punish potential rivals.

The visionaries and the all-knowing humans variously called proletariats, Bolsheviks, communists that Karl Marx and others envisaged that would be produced and would only speak the fact, not argue or convince, eventually failed to emerge where the experiments for their production were conducted. They nevertheless emerged in Africa around the ‘60s at the head of the new countries that came to being at that time. Although they emerged without the “lightening of thought” that Marx said would cause their emergence, they have endured and prospered till today in Africa!

And so one of the problems with our “new” government is that like the one before it, the members will consider themselves as “creatures” of this type of being, and will work in fear and total submission –with the being representing their own “specter” that will haunt them throughout their ministerial tenure.

Societies can be governed only with ideas. Government must be open to itself and to society as a whole, so that governance ideas can be bounced back and forth to increase their chances of producing the good. All governments need strong leadership not only from the top but from all its members.

Details

Ngwa Bertrand

15.Oct.2015

Hits: 1983

Write comment (0 Comments)