Beware of the Impending Silent Killer Around Us

As of October 2024, at the Commonwealth Nations Conference in Samoa, King Charles acknowledged, "None of us can change the past, but we can commit to learning its lesson."

According to some media, the aforementioned speech expressed the King of England's perspective of his country's actions throughout the bloody and tearful imperial/colonial era. Some people did not warmly embrace King Charles' noble intentions as he stated,

"Where inequalities exist ... we must find the right ways and the right language to address them. As we look around the world and consider its many deeply concerning challenges, let us choose within our Commonwealth family, the language of community and respect and reject the language of division."

The statement seemed to be a direct response to the fact that South Africa and India, two of the Commonwealth's founding members, were absent at the conference. On the previous day, both countries have decided to go to the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) summit instead.

In light of the geopolitical and rivalry tensions between Russia and the West (of which Britain was a part), the British King reportedly considered the implicit absence of South Africa and India as hostile and an indication of discord.

Given the assistance that Britain had provided to the Commonwealth nations, it was reasonable for the British King to voice his disappointment, regardless of how Britain behaved toward South Africa and India during the occupation. Despite this, the details of the assistance were never disclosed.

“I'm good”

According to a source, Ukraine will have the highest depression rate in the world by the end of 2024. It is not a headline news, though, given the geopolitical situation the country is facing.

Suprisingly, United States and Australia hold second and third place, respectively. This means that the number of people who suffer depression in the two countries that are also referred to as developed countries is equal to the number of people who suffer depression in war-torn countries.

This data is baffling yet concerning, as depression and other kind of psychological disorders could gripple any country, including those that traditionally known for its welfare and stability.

The main reason is obviously not because these countries are lack of mental health facilities or mental health specialists. In most cases, the patient's unawareness that something has been going wrong inside of him/her contributes to the severity of their mental breakdown.

Sometimes, the depiction of mental health issues exposed by influencers, social media, or in the storylines of subscription streaming shows is considered as fact. As these shows leave an uncomfortable and gloomy impression, our inner refuse to imagine or curious about whether the disease has taken control our souls. As long as we don’t want to commit suicide nor hallucinating about voices from the sky, it means our mental is fine, isn’t it?

The Silent Killer

GERD (gastroesphageal influx disease) is a condition in which patients suddenly experiencing a burning sensation in the chest or shortness of breath caused by acid rising from the stomach into the throat. GERD can lead to other life-threatening illnesses, such as high risk of cancer, even while it does not cause mortality.

Ironically, this condition—which is sometimes mistaken for indisgestions—affects people of all ages, men and women alike, and is particularly prevalent worldwide, while stress as one of the triggers is becoming more and more common.

Stress, this very word is increasingly popular along with the numbers of people who had or feel pressured to be tough and strong in public and in their daily lives, whether due to work or family responsibilities, even when their true feelings are quite the opposite. As if you're not living in modern times when you never experiencing stress at all.

Is it because life is short so it will be meaningless without stress?

Looking at the King Charles' ‘assertion’ above, it becomes clear that both colonizer and the colonized felt miserable. When the imperialists "discovered" colonies that were abundant in sunlight and many other things that were not found in their hometowns, they felt as though they had found a second, third, fourth, and so forth home. Naturally, they experienced a profound sense of loss upon being compelled to permanently leave their dream homes.

The sense of loss skews a nation's viewpoint, responses, behaviors, and collective wisdom that is passed down through generations, since it is not voiced and has merely been suppressed for centuries. It shapes humans' mindset as they have to deal with different events from time to time.

Everything that happens on Earth today is the result of a never-ending chain of causes and effects like a malignant disease brought on by chronic GERD. All of complexities occur amidst society's dynamic as a global community turns out lead up to neglected problems of the past.