Mental Health in Nigeria
It is not a myth that there is a significant cause for concern for the mental health of most Nigerians.
Research has shown that the prevalence rate of mental health issues in Nigeria is alarming, at least one (1) in every four (4) Nigerians suffers mental illness and W.H.O ranks Nigeria 15th in the world in committing suicide.
The few mental health specialists in the country have exacerbated the severity of cases that go untreated.
Besides the problems stemming from complex educational systems, other factors such as unemployment, insecurity, injustice, amongst others, have largely contributed to the poor mental health state of Nigerians which many report significant distress from different social media platforms.
There is a correlation between our mental health and physical health which further affects our social, occupational health and other aspects of functioning. It shows in our relationships with people, our productivity at work, our ability to carry out daily tasks, difficulty managing emotions, concentration, attention and memory issues, our self/social judgment gets affected, perhaps disturbance in sleep and appetite, etc.
For mental health issues, the deterioration may start slowly or abruptly, but it will surely continue to affect different areas of our life, hence, the individual affected may require immediate psychological attention.
Sadly, how will the average Nigerian, who may not think that their mental health is this important, who, out of fear of being stigmatized for seeing a ‘shrink’, preferring to contain these distress even after seeing patterns of the effects in his/her life, but would rather ‘macho up’ because “small thing no dey affect African man”, or who would think that suffering depression, or anxiety or any other neurotic problems relates to having a weak faith in God or is a signifier of spiritual possession?
This all rules out, of course, the rationale behind the resistance (due to lack of knowledge, stigma) to seeking adequate psychological care / seeing a therapist by many Nigerians.
Issue of stigma
We may define stigma as discrimination, negative feeling /attitude, or being indifferent towards persons affected by mental health.
Stigma usually stems from stereotypes in society, which may lead to stigmatization of persons/categories being stereotyped. People usually stigmatize people living with both physical health problems and mental health problems, but most times, more ‘accepting’ of physical health conditions, as people can see physically your pain, but may shame a symptom that is, perhaps ‘invisible’.
Mental health stigma can look like people laughing over your psychological complaints, or saying statements such as, “toughen up, it is not a big deal”, “I get that you have anxiety but I feel you are exaggerating it”, “Try harder and have faith in God, then only you will snap out of your depression” or considering having mental health issues as ‘attention seeking’, etcetera.
In Nigeria, the popularity of mental health problems and opting for professional help is very low, of course, the level of stigma is a contributing factor.
People are easily tagged as ‘crazy’ for experiencing such issues but are shown warmth for having an ulcer, or any physical issues. In reality, mental health issues are just as important, affects one severely, and may also affect their physical health, and could be life-threatening too. In fact, there is no health without mental health. There is a dire need for the attitude of Nigerians to change regarding mental health, be kinder to themselves and to others, but this can only be achieved through mental health sensitization.
Awareness of mental health should be intensified in the University. That way, an individual is equipped with hands-on skills to manage their mental health and normalizes opting for therapy when necessary.
There is no health without mental health, this is the reason Premium Wellness Program and her team of professionals is championing the movement for better awareness on Mental Health and how it happens to the average person in their day-to-day activities.