Why mental disorder persists, by experts

March 2013 00:00 By Chukwuma Muanya News - Na

A DISCLOSURE came Thursday from experts that 99 per cent of mental disorders are curable through medication and psychiatric treatment but the chances are being hampered by stigmatization and dearth of psychiatrists.
Consultant psychiatrists, Prof. Femi Olugbile, who is also the permanent secretary Lagos State Ministry of Health and Dr. Rotimi Coker of the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Thursday at a workshop on responsible drinking, mental health and the menace of drug abuse, blamed the increasing cases of suicide in the country on undiagnosed and untreated mild mental disorders.
They said early symptoms of mental disorder include: Persistent headache, backache, talking to self, low mood, loss of enjoyment in what gives one pleasure, fatigue, poor coordination, inability to eat, erectile dysfunction in men, chronic sensation or hotness of the body, among others.
To tackle the menace, the psychiatrists in their different presentations at the workshop organised by Guinness Nigeria Plc and the Lagos State Ministry of Health, called for speedy integration of mental health care and treatment into services offered at primary health care centres across the country.
They also said that the recently adopted Lagos State mental health policy was already tackling the growing cases of drunk drivers; and offenders would soon be arrested and prosecuted.
The psychiatrists urged Nigerians to seek early treatment if they were confronted with any of the symptoms to prevent degeneration into psychoactive disorder that is usually untreatable and leads to suicide.
Coker said: “Mental disorders are all over the world. People are committing suicide, epilepsy, anxiety, mild depression and phobia are on the rise. Unfortunately most doctors will not be able to recognise mild depression. The one that people recognise is severely psychoactive disorder or the one that most people call madness. But it is only one per cent of the population will have that.
“Children also suffer from mental disorder. 20 per cent of children between seven and 14 years old have one form of mental disorder or the other; and one out of every 10 Nigerian will eventually have mental disorder.”
The psychiatrist said some of the major consequences of mental disorders are sudden deaths from suicide, unemployment, low productivity, stress on career, marital breakdown, reduced access to intervention, social stigma, unwanted pregnancy, among others.
Coker further explained: “Suicide is on the increase in Nigeria especially in Lagos. Last year three people jumped into the lagoon from the Third Mainland Bridge. We have recorded suicide cases at LASUTH. People can commit suicide while depressed.