ACROSS Nigeria and indeed the African continent, a young child may be denied the opportunity to attend school because the child has a seizure disorder. A young adolescent may drop out of the university because of a psychotic episode. A female with mental illness may be taken to a traditional or religious healer where they are chained and may be sexually abused. Others may suffer food deprivation, physical beatings (purportedly for exorcism), and so on. Many families are stigmatised and find it difficult to get their children to marry because they have been labeled as a family with someone who has a history of mental health challenges. Some aged senior citizens with dementia suffer abuse because the family and caregivers are emotionally exhausted and are at their wit’s end – and simply cannot comprehend what is going on. In some tragic cases, elderly women with dementia have been beaten to death following accusations of witchcraft. Increasingly, more young people are struggling with their emotional well-being and grappling with anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, and suicidal thoughts/behaviour. Recreational drug abuse is on the rise and is causing a devastating impact on our youth, their families and society at large.
In the sea of all these challenges, we have a long history of governmental neglect and low priority for mental health at federal as well as state levels. When you superimpose widespread ignorance and misconceptions about mental disorders, which results in shame, stigma and discrimination in our society, then you can begin to appreciate the magnitude of the challenges which persons with mental health challenges and their families go through.
What are the facts?
Mental illnesses are very common, with the World Health Organisation (WHO) estimating that one in every four persons will suffer from a mental disorder in their lifetime. This implies that every family has a risk of one family member having a mental disorder at some point in their life if we take the average family size as four (father, mother, and two children). Expanding this estimate will imply that about 50 million Nigerians may suffer from a mental disorder at some point in their lifetime. So undoubtedly, they are very common conditions.
Second, mental disorders are a spectrum of different types. Some may be disorders of mood such as depression, or anxiety disorders such as phobias, panic attacks andso on. Others may be psychotic conditions – where they are hearing or seeing things that are not there (hallucinations) or have abnormal and weird beliefs (delusions) such as a conviction that the whole world is spying on them and wants to kill them and so on. Some occur exclusively in women such as during pregnancy and childbirth such as postpartum depression or postpartum psychosis. Substance use problems is also a unique category of challenges that is increasing in magnitude daily.
We can also describe these conditions based on when they occur across the lifespan – from infancy to old age. There are conditions that occur or start in childhood, such as autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and so on. Others may start in adolescence or young adulthood such as depression, substance use, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia. While some develop only in old age, such as dementia.
Third, these disorders occur as a result of abnormal changes in the brain and they can be successfully treated and controlled and the person will be fine and return to normal productive lives without any challenges. Provided the person continues to take their treatment and they continue to have regular reviews with their psychiatrist. Now this is not any different from the treatment of hypertension or diabetes where you have to take medications as well as regular reviews with your physician for the rest of your life. We don’t cure diabetes or hypertension – we manage and control them. That is exactly what we do for mental illness too.
Importance of mental health awareness
Considering the challenges highlighted above, it is clear that there must be concerted efforts to promote mental health awareness, combat the shame and stigma associated with it, and encourage people to seek help and show empathy and support for affected persons and their families. The Asido Foundation (www.asidofoundation) has recorded tremendous progress in the area of mental health advocacy within the spate of 5 short years. We commend the dedication of her members as well as encourage us all to engage in the task of promoting mental health awareness and support for affected persons and their families. It is a task for us all (religious leaders, the media, individuals, everyone).
Too many of our citizens are suffering in silence, simply due to a lack of information. This should not continue. Let us encourage people to visit hospitals and see mental health professionals when they are struggling with their mental health. There is no health without mental health. Happy Birthday to Asido Foundation (August 2).
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