By Zainab Jobarteh
World Mental Health Day is observed on the 10th of October every year worldwide. This year’s theme is, ‘‘Mental Health is a Universal Human Right’’, and the goal to improve knowledge, raise awareness and drive actions that protect mental health as a human right.
In an exclusive interview with Mustapha Lowe, founder and CEO of Mental Health Gambia and Country Director of Eco-Network Gambia Chapter, he explained the status of mental health in the country.
Mr. Lowe said it has been estimated that about 120,000 of the population are affected by mental illness and 90 percent of these people do not access mental health services for their conditions. He lamented that there is only one psychiatric hospital in the country serving the entire population, and expressed the need for the country to have other mental health facilities as the population is growing at a rate where it would be difficult for Tanka Tanka to do it all.
‘‘Tanka Tanka does not have enough medication for their patients. Stakeholders and individuals need to play their part as we know the government cannot do all of it,’’ he noted.
Mr. Lowe believes that when society is equipped with knowledge on mental health, caring for those with mental health issues would be easier and stigmatization as well as discrimination will be reduced if not completely eradicated.
‘‘Many people with mental health issues are neglected in the society so the CSOs have a role to play in complementing government’s efforts. We need support in meeting the community and youths in our society,’’ he said.
Underscoring the importance of practitioners’ active involvement in fighting metal health, Mr Lowe said his organisation gives psychosocial support to individuals with mental health issues, awareness campaign, psychosocial first aid, community follow-up and community mental health promotion.
He lamented that part of the reason it is difficult to get to the masses is because most people do not believe that mental health is something real. He however noted that his organisation is working with institutions and organizations such as KMC, Defend Human Right, IOM, United Muslim and Women Empowerment Project, to raise awareness around mental health.
Though there are different causes of mental health in the country, the mental health activist explained that the main and highest reason is drug abuse. He said drugs are affecting a lot of Gambian youths, adding that the Drug Law Enforcement Agency needs to open doors for CSOs to help combat drug abuse in the country.
Evidently, people with mental illness find it difficult to openly talk about it because of the way society is built. Mr. Lowe said he believes that mental health education should be part of the school curriculum so that students can be open about their status. He added that a lot of school-going kids go through stages of stress that affects their learning but they do not know how to handle it or even communicate about it.
The CEO concluded that the country is trying, but more needs to be done and everyone needs to take responsibility.
He explained that Mental Health Gambia is working on an outreach programme and they would like for institutions and individuals to join them combat mental health in the country.
