Dr. Akin Merino, a behavioural health commissioner based in United States and founder of the African Mental Health Alliance (AMHA) has urged the Federal Government and businesses to focus on mental health issues in the country to ensure economic growth and development. People will listen when we express the impact of mental health in terms of finances.
Professor Merino who spoke during the AMHA seminar held recently in Lagos with the theme ‘From Trauma to Triumph’ said that despite the high rate of depression and suicide in the country, government at all levels have failed to pay adequate attention to issues of mental health.
She stated that businesses and communities lose billions of Naira yearly owing to mental health issues, adding that in turn the economy at large will be impacted.
“Mental health is a nation wealth because it impacts children, adults, families, workers, and communities among others. The government should focus on mental health issues because if your populace is not sound, they cannot be innovative enough to create wealth and grow the economy,” she said.
“If employees have psychological issues there is no way they will be competitive, so businesses must focus on mental health issues,” she added.
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She noted that to tackle the issue of mental health on the African continent, AMHA was created to conduct training, advocacy, research, practice, and prevention to help individuals and communities become healthier.
“Mental health is not something that is a stronghold in Africa yet. As a result of the social media focus on suicide and abuses, we created AMHA so that we as a nation can become better informed and reduce stigma. Health is not just about your physical health but also your mental health,” she said.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), one in four Nigerians – about 50 million people are suffering from some sort of mental illness.
Merino attributed the high rate of mental illness in the country to several factors including stress and trauma of living life in Nigeria. There are low numbers of skilled psychiatrists and therapists for a population of 200 million people and government low budgetary allocation to the health sector.
She says that depression is caused by the imbalances in hormonal chemicals in the brain. “You need to make sure that serotonin is increased in your brain to tackle depression and one of the ways you can do that is through exercise and connecting with people.”
Merino called on the government to create mental health department that would consist of stakeholders such as nurses, psychiatrists, and therapists to collaborate and form a systematic and strategic sustainable health program that addresses issues of mental health.
“People are already doing it individually, but the government needs to bring all of these people together to collaborate and facilitate to disseminate the information to the public,” she said.
“We do not have enough psychiatrists and therapists, so, we need to train lay people to recognize symptoms,” she added.
