‘Set up social welfare schemes for people with mental illness’

Worried by the plight of the mentally ill people in Nigeria, stakeholders under the aegis of Mental Health Leadership and Advocacy Programe (mhLAP) have advised the federal and state governments to set up social welfare and social security schemes for the patients. They gave the advise during an advocacy programme on mental health in Ibadan, […]

Worried by the plight of the mentally ill people in Nigeria, stakeholders under the aegis of Mental Health Leadership and Advocacy Programe (mhLAP) have advised the federal and state governments to set up social welfare and social security schemes for the patients.
They gave the advise during an advocacy programme on mental health in Ibadan, Oyo State.
The stakeholders called for free treatment as well as psychological, social and economic support for people with mental illnesses.
They noted that lack of social welfare and social security for mentally ill people in Nigeria has unwittingly been fuelling the level of corruption in the country because everybody wants to grab enough to secure the future.
The forum identified mental illness as comprising depression, anxiety disorders, addiction, psychosis and such others, urging anyone with mental illness to see a psychiatrist, a mental health expert or a psychologist for counselling.
It condemned the stigmatization of people with mental illnesses but emphasized the need for such people to receive adequate care and support from their families and the society to expedite their recovery.
A communique issued at the end of the workshop and signed by the project coordinator, Woye Fadahunsi, decried the myth that people with mental illness do not recover, saying that this ugly notion is not supported by facts and experience of the specialists working on the field.