‘Poverty, unemployment predisposes people to mental illness’
What are the factors increasing mental illness in the country? Today, there are several situations that can predispose one to a mental health condition. They range from poverty, rape, child sexual abuse, kidnapping, hostility within the neighbourhood, marital discord, to lack of employment opportunities among others. To simplify these factors, we can look at the […]
What are the factors increasing mental illness in the country?
Today, there are several situations that can predispose one to a mental health condition. They range from poverty, rape, child sexual abuse, kidnapping, hostility within the neighbourhood, marital discord, to lack of employment opportunities among others.
To simplify these factors, we can look at the 3Ps, that is: Predisposing factors, precipitating factors and perpetuating factors.
Predisposing factors include childhood adversities such as death of a parent, child sexual abuse, dysfunctional family setting, violence in the home, and family history (having a family member who is ill), to mention a few.
Precipitating factors are traumatic life events such as death of a spouse, marriage, child birth, unemployment, and going to jail, among others.
Perpetuating factors are underlying factors such as low income, low level of education, et cetra.
So if an individual has been coping for a long time and then suddenly something happens or changes, it will be viewed as an acute illness.
But most mental and behavioral illnesses have insidious (causing harm in a way that is gradual or not easily noticed) onset. It is just that the individual has been able to cope, and sometimes the symptoms are there but overlooked or trivalised.
For example, rape is an issue that is very predominant especially in young females. Most times once a young girl has had an experience of rape or an attempted rape, she is already being predisposed to having either a depressive or an anxiety disorder in the future. If this is not properly managed, a trigger factor can lead to a breakdown in the future.
Lack of adequate job opportunities in the country is also one major factor that can predispose people into becoming mentally ill. This is common especially in people who are already genetically predisposed to having a mental disorder.
The stressful and daunting situation of the economy and lack of employment opportunities over a long period of time can lead to reduction in an individual’s sense of self worth further leading to a depressive illness.
The issue of kidnapping which has also been rampant in the country today can also cause both a young child and his or her parents to develop an anxiety disorder.
In some localities today, parents are anxious of sending their children to random public schools where security may not be efficient due to the fear of their kids being kidnapped. This anxiety could also make the parents start to develop some obsessive thoughts and paranoia.
In what ways can government assist in tackling mental health problems?
The government has been doing the best they can in their own way by establishing a few psychiatric hospitals in the six geo-political zones in the country. But then again, the best is still not enough.
In Nigeria, we are supposed to have prevention programs for community mental health in every primary health care center of the country.
Community programs can go a long way in correcting the social conditions that give rise to psychological and mental health problems (poverty or violence in the community, for example). Even the budget allocated to health is still poor, and that to mental health is very poor.
The government in all stages have to do much more to alleviate the suffering of the people by implementing better health policies that would continue from the preventive to curative stages of mental illnesses.
What treatments should people stay clear of?
According to research, the treatment of mental illness in the past included exorcism. The whole idea of exorcism was to coax the “evil spirits” to leave or to make the person’s body an uncomfortable place in which to live.
It’s quite a pity that most people today still attach severe mental health issues to spirituality, and in most cases, the medical condition would have been worse before they finally resort to seeing a psychiatrist or psychologist.
Also, people should try as much as possible to seek for help in the right palaces ( public and private clinics and hospitals), the right people ( the mental health workers, psychiatrist, psychologists, psychiatrist nurses, social workers etc), and the right time which is not too late to start now.
As it is known now, spirituality also enhances good pathway to recovery, so people shouldn’t seek help only from religious perspective and neglect the orthodox part.
My advice for people suffering from mental illnesses is that they should know that these conditions just like hypertension and diabetics have known causes and aren’t spiritually inclined as proposed by the society.
Mental illnesses are not caused by spiritual attacks and they should avoid spiritual homes for help because most mental illnesses are treatable and help is available.
What are the ways of seeking treatment?
Psychotherapy takes time and effort, and most times it can be tough for people to just get out of their houses to seek help.
People don’t always hesitate telling their friends about a trip to their dentist or physician, but they stay quiet about their therapy appointment because of the stigma attached. Many people even feel embarrassed or ashamed of their symptoms because our society places illogical taboos on mental health issues over physical conditions.
I will encourage people to begin help from their primary health care physician by discussing their symptoms with him/her. This goes a long way and can make the pathway to recovery safer, shorter and healthier.
Next is to use your Google search. This you can do by using Google Keywords such as “psychotherapy or psychiatrists in Nigeria or Lagos as the case may be.
The help that comes from family members and friends cannot be overemphasized. These groups of people are very useful in an individual’s pathway to recovery from start to finish. It’s known the burden of care can be overwhelming on them, but their support goes a long way in helping the patients.
What is your advice on staying mentally fit?
Staying mentally fit is as important as maintaining our physical health. It is vital to exercise our brain regularly just like we exercise our body. Research suggests that physical activity and brain exercise programmes help reduce anxiety and depression in individuals.
Another effective way to boost your mental fitness is by indulging in cardio trainings.Besides improving mental health, such exercises also prevents the fall of brain cells with age.
Relaxation techniques are also beneficial in stress relief. Merely grabbing a few extra hours of sleep is not sufficient to combat stress. You need to activate the natural relaxation process of your body with the help of specific techniques. This involves practising deep breathing techniques, meditation, visualization, rhythmic exercises and yoga postures.
Eating right is also a very good way to keeping mentally fit. Some food aren’t good for your mental state and this goes to impacting negatively on your overall health.
Adequate sleep of seven to nine hours has been the watch word for every individual irrespective of their status and social background.
Avoiding negativity is key to our mental health. Ensure you have good and healthy relationships around you and in the most of those that uplift or the downers in the society.
In all of these, we cannot rule out spirituality. Studies have also shown that those that are more spiritually minded tend to heal faster than others. Let’s learn to pray for our overall wellbeing, but don’t overdo things. Moderation is the key word. Over religiosity can be viewed as a sign of a nervous breakdown if noticed in an individual that wasn’t that way before.
Mindfulness techniques have also be seen to be good to keep individuals mentally fit. These techniques can be practiced anywhere from homes to the work places.
If an individual is already on medication for any mental illness, to maintain mental fitness, it’s encouraged that he/she keeps to the medications and get reviews for the doctors regularly. This will help rather than poor drug compliance that can worsen the illness.
Scheduling a ME time, is not only healthy, but also promotes a wealthy wellbeing . A ME time gives you better focus, attention, productivity, healthier and happier life.