Unconfirmed reports suggest that every Nigerian is a potential mental health patient. Until now, mental health is associated with reduced life expectancy and lifespan compared to the general population.
Indeed most Nigerians are daily exposed to chronic stress from multiple sources, including work; money, health, heavy traffic, fear of Ebola Virus Disease and terrorist attacks, and relationship worries; and media overload.
Several studies have shown that chronic stress increases the risk of developing health problems including obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and a weakened immune system. Chronic stress also affects a person's mental health. Many studies show a correlation between stress and the development of mood disorders such as anxiety disorders and depression.
It has also been shown that cardiovascular disease, which includes coronary heart disease, atherosclerosis, hypertension and stroke, is one of the leading causes of death among people with severe mental disorders. People with severe mental disorders also have higher than expected rates of Type II diabetes, respiratory diseases, and infections such as Human Immuno-deficiency Virus (HIV), hepatitis and tuberculosis.
Researchers say the medical conditions experienced by this group are associated with preventable risk factors, such as smoking, physical inactivity, obesity, and side effects of psychiatric medication.
It has also been demonstrated that people with severe mental disorders are also more likely to receive lower quality health and social care than the general population.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), one of the central issues around healthcare access for people with a severe mental disorder is the stigma and discrimination associated with mental illness, and that up to one in every ten human being should expect at some time in their lives to suffer from a significant mental health issue.
Researchers are unanimous that mental illness of different types, most frequently depression, are among the highest causes of Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) - which is a major measure of the loss of productive life suffered as a result of different types of illness all over the world.
Previous studies have shown that, in Nigeria, more than ninety percent of people with a diagnosable mental illness never get to see a doctor or receive treatment of any sort.
The cost of untreated mental illness to society in terms of lost productivity every year is humongous - estimated in the hundreds of billions of naira.
Also, the absence of National Policy on mental health and non-passage of Mental Health Bill has not helped maters.
There is also dearth of specialized institutions and health workers in mental health practice.
According to a study published in British Journal of Psychiatry titled "Psychiatric research in Nigeria: bridging tradition and standardization", the bulk of psychiatric service is provided by the eight regional psychiatric hospitals and the departments of psychiatry in 12 medical schools. A number of general hospitals also provide psychiatric services. Despite these facilities, mental health care remains inadequate, with the ratio of psychiatric beds being about 0.4 to 10 000 persons, while that for both psychologists and social workers is 0.02 to 100 000 persons.
The researchers include consultant psychiatrists: Dr. Oyedeji Ayonrinde, Prof. Oye Gureje; and Dr. Rahmaan Lawal, from the University of Ibadan, Drug Rehabilitation Unit, Psychiatric Hospital, Yaba, Lagos, and Bethlem Royal Hospital, Beckenham South London and Maudsley NHS Trust, London, United Kingdom (U.K.).
They said most services are in urban centres in southern parts of the country and there is both north-south and rural-urban skew in availability and accessibility of resources.
The researchers said the practice and acceptance of faith healing and traditional and complementary medicine have filled this void and are far-reaching in many communities.
They said the common Nigerian views of mental illness are still rooted in super-natural belief systems and traditional illness models, orthodox psychiatric care faces the challenge of proving its efficacy in some sectors of society.
Another study published in African Review of Arts, Social Sciences and Education (ARASSE) by researchers from Nasarawa State University, Keffi, noted that the law covering mental health act is grossly inadequate.
The study entitled "A conceptual overview of mental health and mental health law in Nigeria" noted that the traditional practice and treatment measures of mental illness across the three major ethnic groups in Nigeria were observed; the Igbo, Yoruba and Hausa ethnic groups relying on Ogboni, Babalawo, and Mai-Magani respectively for the traditional healing.
The researchers noted that the establishment of Asylum in Lagos and Abeokuta as psychiatric homes shifts the movement from traditional measures to the orthodox medicine as a better alternative therapy for the treatment of mental illnesses in the country .A report of the
assessment of the mental health system in Nigeria using the World Health Organization - Assessment Instrument for Mental Health Systems (WHO-AIMS) noted that there is considerable neglect of mental health issues in the country.
The project implemented by Oye Gureje, Lola Kola and Woye Fadahunsi, Department of Psychiatry, University of Ibadan, Oyo State, noted that the existing Mental Health Policy document in Nigeria was formulated in 1991 and it was the first policy addressing mental health issues and its components include advocacy, promotion, prevention, treatment and rehabilitation.
It reads: "Since its formulation, no revision has taken place and no formal assessment of how much it has been implemented has been conducted. Though a list of essential medicines exists, they are not always available at the health centers. No desk exists in the ministries at any level for mental health issues and only four per cent of government expenditures on health is earmarked for mental health.
The Founder of the Mental Health Foundation, Emmanuel Owoyemi, said: "More than 64 million Nigerians today are going through one form of mental illness or the other because everything that would cause mental illness is on the increase in Nigeria. Poverty is on the increase, hopelessness is on the increase, insecurity is on the increase.
"There is so much panic at heart, anxiety, high level depression. And also, there is no mental health policy in Nigeria right now; the National Assembly has been delaying in passing the Mental Health Bill.
"None of the psychiatric hospitals in Nigeria today has up to 1000 beds and despite the about 160 million population. We have about 150 psychiatrists; we have 34 neuro-surgeons in the whole country, meaning that, one point something million Nigerians is to one psychiatrist.
"How many people can one psychiatrist attend to within the 1.2 million or 1.3 million? So, we are not doing enough. The human capital is not there, the facility is not there, and yet everything that could cause mental illness is on the increase in Nigeria."
A Consultant Psychiatrist and Medical Director of the Federal Neuro-Psychiatry Hospital (FNPH), Yaba, Lagos, Dr. Rahman Lawal, had told The Guardian that the major challenges facing mental health practice in the country include inadequate awareness which is evident in large scale patronage of traditional and spiritual or religious treatment facilities; inadequate orthodox facilities for management of psychiatric disorders; dearth of personnel; and stigmatization.
Source : The Guardian
No comments:
Post a Comment