- By Faith Malik
Eight of every 10 Nigerians with a mental health problem are not getting any treatment, the Associate Professor of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Dr. Jibril Abdulmalik, has said.
He added that the World Health Organisation (WHO) statistics released in January 2022 showed that over 20,000,000 Nigerians are suffering from various degrees of mental illnesses or disorders.
Prof. Abdulmalik made this known at the 3rd Nigeria Conference on Adolescent and Youth Health and Development, EKO 2023 in Lagos.
He said only two of 10 persons are getting any treatment, and people suffering from mental health don’t believe it is something to go to the hospital for, as a result, they suffer in ignorance, shame and stigma.
He said mental health problems in Nigeria have been on the increase over time, adding that in children and young people, there are increasing rates of drug abuse, suicide and suicidal behaviour and dementia associated with the elderly.
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cause of that shame and stigma, many people are suffering in silence and they are not getting the care they need, and that is a major challenge. We have to make progress as a society. We need to be able to have a society where there is no stigma and shame. In the same way, I will not be ashamed to tell you that I have a fracture or Asthma. I should not be ashamed to say I’m depressed or have bipolar disorder.
“So, we need to promote information and public awareness, until we get to that stage where people are no longer embarrassed to come forward to receive treatment.
“The last thing is also that many people believe that mental illness is a spiritual problem, and it is not a medical problem. So, in the middle-of-the-road approach, what I appeal for is that we don’t say don’t pray, but at least go to hospital and take treatment and then support the treatment with prayers, they should not be mutually exclusive.
“We have eight specialist neuropsychiatric hospitals in Nigeria, and two new ones, one in Kano and the other in Ilorin. Then some teaching hospitals and federal medical centres, some of them not all of them, have departments of mental health or psychiatric and not all of them do. So, we have less than 300 psychiatrists for a population of 200 million. So that roughly translates to just about one psychiatrist per 1 million population. So that is another reason why people are not getting the care they need.”
The President of Eko 2023 Society for Adolescents, Prof. Adesegun Fatusi, said they are not just an association that advances the health and development of young people in Nigeria, rather they are the strongest voice for young people in Africa, which is the agenda of the society to advance the health and well-being of young people in Nigeria and around the world.
The Chairman for the Youth Engagement Committee, Mr. Oladimeji Ibrahim, said: “The conference is one of the largest conferences bringing together innovators, particularly young people in Nigeria and around the world to participate in achieving sustainable development, while driving the agenda as well as contributing towards making our community sustainable for all.
“To plan for the future, we must drive innovation that allows young people to get involved and achieve demographic dividends.”