Column No.6: We would be mad not to take mental illness seriously

Here in Nigeria, it’s generally seen as fine to call a mentally-ill person a ‘madman’ or even ‘mad woman’. But don’t be quick to condemn,…

Here in Nigeria, it’s generally seen as fine to call a mentally-ill person a ‘madman’ or even ‘mad woman’. But don’t be quick to condemn, given our position as one of the world’s most conducive nations for political incorrectness. Also remember that no harm, or disrespect, is meant to the person suffering from mental illness. The simple fact is, many Nigerians don’t even believe in things like schizophrenia, or the slew of manias that exist and plague helpless sufferers, much less a condition like Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Unless you chalk it all up to a wicked stepmother, in-law, or business rival. If in doubt, watch any Nollywood offering from the past decade.

You can blame this mindset on many factors, some being a penchant for the unexplainable, and the superstitious. Like blaming schizophrenia or dementia on ‘evil spirits’, jinn, or witches and wizards, or my personal favourite, the creatively-coined ‘village people’. Even those who suffer from bipolar disorder are immediately stigmatized as having ‘drugged their way to insanity’. The dangerous aspect of all these, is that it takes away from the fact that mental illness is diagnosable and treatable, thanks to leaps and bounds in breakthroughs within that part of medicine.

But like I mentioned earlier, the average Nigerian would rather blame it on the aforementioned phantom causes, because it is simpler and more convenient. It also means one wouldn’t have to confront the harsh realities that come with one’s loved one suffering from something like mental illness. It is, sadly, a variant of the faulty logic of ‘disease no dey kill Black man’, which someone with even a modicum of common sense would agree is inane.

As you may know, PTSD is a mental health condition that’s triggered by a terrifying event, either by experiencing it or witnessing it. It causes flashbacks, nightmares and severe anxiety, as well as uncontrollable thoughts about the event. That’s not to mention other forms of it arising from doing even some of the most mundane things, like driving on Abuja roads, or trying to talk to someone who cut into a queue you have been waiting on for hours. The honest truth is, just being Nigerian itself comes with a form of PTSD.

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Sometime in October last year, during the last World Mental Health Day, data of course poured in, as it tends to do during special days. Like the bit from the World Health Organisation (WHO), that says one in four Nigerians are suffering from some sort of mental illness or the other. I’d say do the math, but I think even arithmetic would show the imbalance. But let’s move away from the anecdotal, to the specific and scientific. Like the tragic fact that our country has Africa’s highest caseload of depression, while ranking 15th in the world in the frequency of suicide. There are about six psychiatric centres in Lagos, but the crowd that overburdens those facilities is massive, leaving the small handful of doctors and specialists overburdened. Though by Nigerian standards, that’s impressive because of how abysmally that sector stands regarding adequacy of trained professionals and functional infrastructure.

I have more sad stats, in turn shocking and sad. There aren’t up to 150 psychiatrists in Nigeria, as much of a ‘Giant of Africa’ we claim to be. And even this small number of professionals remains overburdened and underpaid, with many of our doctors opting to borrow a leaf from Andrew and ‘checking out’ for greener pastures like Canada, the UK, and the rest, leaving us to wallow in mental ill-health. It’s enough to, well, drive one insane.

We should, as a people, finesse our collective sense of logic, and reasoning, and get past superstitious beliefs, and move right to the point where we are supportive of those of us who suffer mental illness. As I round up this article, a smile creeps up on my face, and I’ll share the reason with you. Do you remember the joke about an ex-first lady who, while speaking about suicide bombers said in impeccable Pidgin English that she would rather kill herself than commit suicide? Whether that was funny or not, the serious fact remains that we need to take mental illness seriously in Nigeria. Not doing so would be crazy.