Lagos State government recently put the number of its population living with mental illness at 2 million. The state’s commissioner of health, Dr Jide Idris, said at a media briefing to mark this year’s World Mental Health Day that an average of 14.1 per cent of the total Lagos population suffered from one form of mental illness or another. The true figure is probably twice that quoted by the commissioner. Across the country, there are increasing reports of individuals losing control on the streets and public spaces, which further throws a spotlight on the issue. Though mental illness could be caused by heredity and some biological imbalance, modernity presents us with increasing challenges. Rising urban centres with huge populations competing for limited infrastructural support is one major trigger of mental illness. Changes in lifestyles such as households where both parents work outside the home, increased commuting time on poorly constructed roads, as well as the rise in poverty and decrease in living standards have contributed to individuals carrying considerable stress loads. These all influence the rise we are witnessing in the prevalence rate of mental illness. In a society where there is still little awareness of mental illness, few resources are available. Most sufferers are undiagnosed and left to undergo considerable hardship. For the few whose condition is recognised, the treatment meted out to them is often prehistoric. The majority of them will never come within the confines of a hospital or see a psychiatrist.
They are treated by herbalists, churches and mosques. Many of them endure great pain at the hands of these spiritual healers who believe that all mental illnesses are the work of the devil which can be beaten out of the sufferer. However, mental illness, if treated properly, is extremely manageable. Patients can go on to lead fairly normal productive lives, aided by a new class of anti-psychotics with greatly reduced side effects.
We strongly feel that more emphasis should be made by policymakers to ensure that the mentally ill are provided with adequate care and treatment.
Community mental health teams headed by a psychiatrist and supported by a team of psychologists, social workers and mental health nurses that work in neighbourhoods should be provided to help identify those at risk before they become a danger to themselves and others. Treatment for the mentally ill should be holistic, taking into consideration the needs of the individual. Most patients can be treated at home with the right support; only in extreme cases should inpatient treatment be considered.
Inadequate funding that has sentenced our psychiatric wards to places of doom must not be allowed to continue, while the training of a new generation of mental health professionals must be accorded some priority if we are to rescue millions of Nigerians from a life without hope.