A mental health advocate and founder of Heartrose Care Foundation, Mrs Esther Adekoya, has advised the Federal Government to empower Primacy Health Care centres in the country to provide mental health care.“Investment in primary health care by providing mental health services such as prompt diagnosis and treatment of people with mental disorders is also important in reducing the burden of mental health. Trained primary health care workers will be able to apply key psychosocial and behavioural science skills like interviewing, counselling and interpersonal skills.
The mental health advocate added that it was unfortunate that many people walking on the streets were depressed.
“From research in Nigeria, it has been discovered that depression is ravaging every stratum, from cradle to the grave. Children and adults now committing suicide and murder because they are depressed; the effect of the pandemic made it worse.
”The wealth of the nation is in the human capital, not in the mineral resources. We are losing our human capital to mental illness. If we have depressed people with some level of insanity at the helm of affairs of a country, it will lead to economic depression, because they won’t do the right thing,” Adekoya said.
source: MedicalWorldNigeria
