He encouraged people to seek medical help when faced with a mental health challenge, pointing out that not everyone with a mental illness has psychosis (madness).
By Deborah Hassan
365Daily – The Chairman of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) in Plateau State, Dr Bapiga’an Audu, has lamented the poor attention paid to mental health in Nigeria, saying the doctor to patient ratio is getting worse with one mental health doctor to about 1,000,000 patients.
Audu made this disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday, October 12, 2022, in Jos.
While urging government at all levels to address the shortage of manpower for mental health in Nigeria, he noted that Plateau State has only six psychiatrists serving a population of over 5,000,000 persons and others from its environs.
“These doctors also serve neighbouring states like Bauchi, Taraba and Kaduna as patients from these states come to Plateau to get treatment,” he said.
The doctor called for more awareness on mental health through health education, hence the advocation for inclusion of mental health in any health education programme or subject.
The Chairman explained that health entailed the physical, mental and social wellbeing of an individual and not just the absence of disease, therefore, health education should teach the physical, mental and social component of man’s well being.
“Unfortunately in our society when we talk about health education, it is usually mainstreamed to physical hygiene alone, it should also go with mental education,” he said.
He encouraged people to seek medical help when faced with a mental health challenge, pointing out that not everyone with a mental illness has psychosis (madness).
Speaking further, he identified stigma as a major impediment stopping people from speaking out about their mental health challenges.
Similarly a clinical psychologist, Mrs Ijeoma Laluwoye, said the inclusion of a mental health subject into the school curriculum of pupils and students in primary and secondary schools was imperative to enable them understand their mental health status.
She opined that a child who is knowledgeable about his or her mental health status could easily detect when there is a mental health challenge.
Laluwoye said the pupil or student, when faced with such a challenge like any other health challenge can seek help early from mental health experts, knowing that such a challenge isn’t peculiar to such an individual alone and there is a solution.
(NAN)