Poor mental health of Nigerians

The alarm raised the other day by Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu over the worsening situation of mental health in the state is akin to the chicken coming home to roost. Nigerians in general and Lagosians in particular know for sure that most people are sitting on the edge of sanity; and that the line between sanity and the other side is very thin. It cannot be otherwise, giving the enormous pressure of living in the country, the poverty around, the frustration and the hopelessness in the land, among other damning facts.

Sanwo-Olu had decried the growing scourge of poor mental health in the state, stating that one in four Lagos State residents struggles with one mental health disorder or the other. That figure is a product of research conducted by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and constitutes a fair assessment of the state of eccentricity in the land. One in four Nigerians – some 50 million people – are suffering from some sort of mental illness, according to WHO. 

Represented by his deputy, Dr. Kadiri Hamzat,  the governor disclosed this at the second edition of the State’s Mental Health conference with the theme “Responding to the Mental Health Needs of a 21st Century Megacity” while pledging to create a strong network of operations towards addressing mental health in the state.

Sanwo-Olu said: “Mental Health is one of those issues in our society that is still very largely misunderstood and whose conversations still happen in secret. This is despite the fact that we all know someone who is struggling with one form of mental health challenge or the other, like depression, anxiety, substance abuse and those we have lost to suicide.

“There is no doubt that conversations around mental wellbeing have begun to trend in the last few years and there is data to suggest that there is a growing incidence of many of the common mental disorders in our society. It is stated that, one in four Lagosians struggles with clinically diagnosable mood disorders like anxiety or depression, the menace of substance abuse is on the rise, and will likely become a national epidemic if we fail to address it frontally.

“Many of us have either heard of, or personally know people who have lost their lives by suicide, and more often than not, we hide these tragedies for fear of shame and stigma. This not only has social implications but also places a huge burden on our economy, as experts say that depression alone is estimated to cost at least US$ 800 billion in lost economic output globally, a sum expected to more than double by 2030,” the governor said.

Sanwo-Olu captured the mental health situation very well. To this end, the subsequent disclosure by the Commissioner of Health, Lagos State, Prof. Akin Abayomi, while listing the mental health mandate and road map in the state, that the state government is constructing 500-Bed Psychiatric Hospital and Rehabilitation Centre, in Ketu Ejirin is comforting. But poor mental balance of Nigerians will not improve without a holistic approach that will emphasise more of prevention than curative. Given the current trend, such hospitals under proposal may not be able to cope with the patients.

Sadly, the first and most important factor for a stable mental condition – good governance – is in deficit in the country that is characterised by massive insecurity with the attendant anxiety, high unemployment, high corruption against high level of poverty (Nigeria is home to the poorest people in the world) and other frustrations. These combine to produce an environment highly conducive to depression, and drug abuse that in turn foster depression, delusion and various delinquent and negative behaviours. It is not surprising that incidences of people hacking down fellow human beings to death, mutilating the body and in some cases eating the remains or part of it are rife. Such bizarre things can only happen in a depraved society pretending to be sane.

A report of the assessment of the mental health system in Nigeria using the World Health Organisation – Assessment Instrument for Mental Health Systems (WHO-AIMS), provided in its Executive Summary that: “There is considerable neglect of mental health issues in the country. The existing Mental Health Policy document in Nigeria was formulated in 1991. It was the first policy addressing mental health issues and its components include advocacy, promotion, prevention, treatment and rehabilitation. 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 centres. No desk exists in the ministries at any level for mental health issues and only four per cent of government expenditures on health are earmarked for mental health.”
Obviously, this report is damning and requires top government attention for redress.

While working to improve governance and make life worth living for its populace, political leaders must jettison their selfish interest and strive to stop emigration of its physicians. Nine out of every ten doctors in Nigeria are seeking to leave the country and find work elsewhere, according to international health monitors; and this cannot but increase the pressure on citizens. All governments – federal and states, need to collaborate and develop strategy to counter the growing menace of poor mental health before it ravages the country.