Promoting mental health for national development

Until recently recourse to suicide as a way of mitigating frustration, disappointment or hard feeling towards life's expectations was very rare among Nigerians. Though until recently, data on the number of Nigerians having mental challenges was not readily available, it is believed that Nigerians have a strong 'shock absorber' as they could cope with the toughest of mentally challenging situations.

According to Psychiatry.org, the official website of the American Psychiatric Association (APA), mental health denotes the absence of behavioural, cognitive and emotional wellbeing which makes a person's thoughts, mood, behaviour, regulation and discernment not to conform to acceptable known standards.

A World Health Organisation (WHO) 2019 survey indicated that 1 out of every 8 person in the globe suffer one form of mental disorder with anxiety and depression being the common stressor of this illness.

In bringing the grim situation back home, in a 2021 report, WHO said one in four Nigerians, an average of 50 million people, is suffering from one mental challenge or another.

The UN world health agency said mental health issues has been compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic which restricted movement and trapped people in their homes for several month resulting in changes in behavioural patterns.

Experts say the leading mental disorders include anxiety disorder, depression, bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), schizophrenia, eating disorder, disruptive behaviour and dis-social disorder and Neuro-developmental disorders. In Nigeria, depression is a major issue due to cultural bias that force victims not to speak out or seek professional attention.

Nigeria's healthcare experts say mental health issues in Nigeria requires urgent attention by the different tiers of government with the Senate's Mental Health and Substance Abuse Bill proposed as at February of 2020 but yet to get the required institutional support to become a law as a pointer to how serious governments take the challenge.

Observers say for Nigerians to contribute more to national development, they should not only e physically health but also mentally fit.

According to the Medical Director, Federal Neuro-psychiatric Hospital at Yaba, Lagos, Dr Olugbenga Owoeye, said it is important that governments make the necessary investment in promoting the mental health of their citizens.

According to him, such investments should not only include funding of existing mental health institutions and making resources available for mental health research, but also addressing socio-economic challenges that expose Nigerians to risks of psychiatric conditions.

Similarly, Dr Veronica Nyamali, the Vice-President, Association of Psychiatrists of Nigeria (APN), said Nigeria's poor level mental health care to underfunding of researches on mental health by the appropriate authorities.s.

"Researches will help governments by providing the necessary data for planning, execution and evaluation of the physical, medical and human resources needs to boost the nation's mental healthcare delivery services.

"It is Nigeria's lack of data on mental health issues that is her greatest drawback to investment and effective management of this important aspect of our health care delivery," she said.

Nyamali attributed depression, the nation's most common mental health care challenge to economic challenges, which she said aggravates emotional and psychological trauma in citizens.

A Consultant Neuro-psychiatric doctor and the Medical Director at Pinnacle Medical Services, Dr Maymunah Kediri, said government and stakeholders should do more on mental health awareness campaign.

She said the high rate of stigma against those suffering from mental health in the country was frustrating the efforts to mitigate the problem.

"Investing more in public enlightenment against stigmatisation of mentally ill persons with a view to addressing disinformation and misinformation or contradict common negative beliefs of society to ostracise or eliminate people with mental disorder will go a long way in the efforts to curb the problem of mental illnesses," physician said.

Also speaking, the immediate past president of the APN, and consultant psychiatrist, Prof. Taiwo Sheikh said drug abuse was a leading cause of mental health problem among young people and called on government to take concrete steps to curb the problem.

"The optimal functionality of our National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and other law enforcement authorities charged with combating drug abuse and trafficking will help to a large extent to improve the mental health status of the citizens," Sheikh said.

To Sheikh, the link between drug abuse and trafficking with mental health in Nigeria cannot be underrated as the former is the major stimuli for the high rate of depression and dis-social behaviour in the country.

He also said that governments across the country needed to evolve ingenious policy initiatives to support the training of medical professionals on mental healthcare and promote programmes that would encourage university admission seekers to study psychiatry to raise the numbers of professionals operating in the country.

Also, Retired Brig.-Gen. Gbenga Okulate, a one-time psychiatrist doctor with the Nigeria Military Hospital Yaba, Lagos, said one of the ways to reduce mental illness in Nigeria is to address the causes of some of the disorder such as the high inflation rate, poor salary and wages for workers.

"The increasing rate of suicide attempts in the country stems from frustration due to high cost of living, poverty, and emotional dislocation such as lack show of love to one another", he said.

While it is the responsibility of governments to provide the enabling environment, observers say that addressing the challenge posed by mental health in the country should be a collective responsibility with individuals avoiding actions that expose them to risks of mental stress, while the culture of being good neigbhours which is fast disappearing should be embraced.

It is important that Nigerians imbibe the culture of regular health checks, which should include mental health evaluation.