The director-general FCT Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Alh. Abbas Idriss, has stressed the importance of good mental health to the attainment of a stable society, saying that several social vices that are prevalent in the city presently can be traceable to mental health issues.
He equally stressed the importance of good mental health to good quality of life among the citizenry of the FCT.
Alh. Idriss stated this in Abuja recently, during a public lecture organized by the Abuja Rotary Club, (Apo Rotary RC, Abuja Urban and Ministers Hill RC) in partnership with FEMA to mark the World Mental Health Day in Abuja, which is celebrated on 10th of October annually.
The FEMA Boss who was represented at the interactive session themed: “More Access and more Funding” by the Director Admin, Hajia Hadiza Usman noted that good mental health is crucial to the survival of human beings within the society.
He noted that if the issue of mental health is taken seriously by the appropriate agencies, there will be less number of mental ill persons roaming the streets and less stress induced conflicts in the society.
He linked most mentally ill Health issues to stress, adding that stress is one of the major causes of mental breakdown, he advised residents to avoid activities that will overwhelm them and always make out time to relax and check their stress level with a view to controlling it.
Earlier in her address, the president of Rotary club Apo, Ms. Annemarie Ada Adamu, also an assistant Chief Administrative Officer(FEMA), who spoke on behalf of her team member(Abuja urban, and Ministers Hill RC) said that her team was partnering with FEMA with the aim of contributing their quota in the effort to reducing mental ill health related conflicts and other social vices in the FCT.
Some of these efforts according to her include reducing stress in the work places and creating awareness on the importance of a healthy and qualitative work environment. She also advocated for improved living conditions among the citizenry as a major strategy towards reducing stress and mental illness in the society.
While delivering a lecture on the theme at the occasion, Dr. Temitayo O. Daramola, Medical Director, Cogntions Health Care, Apo Legislators Quarters, zone E Abuja, and guest lecturer at the event, noted that there are some challenges surrounding mental health issues ranging from stigmatization, negative perception, extreme believe by the public, and funding amongst other things.
Dr. Daramola noted that in the midst of these important stages of intervention, support, acceptance and love are critical to the success of intervention efforts in this regard. He stressed that such patients pull through much faster when support, acceptance and love are in place to give them a needed sense of belonging.
According to him, “if we will be more supportive and emphatic and be less stigmatizing to the mentally people, it will go a long way in reducing some of the issues we have in the society today and ultimately reduce the cases of social vices experiences”
Dr. Daramola noted that metal health issues in the society develop when you are stressed beyond what a can bear and varies in degrees from person to person, and can be easily ameliorated with early detections and followed up with treatment and therapy. He added that ill mental health can also be caused by poorly treated illnesses, pregnancy induced depression and lifestyles that overstretch one’s mental capability.
He therefore advised civil servants and FCT residents in general to be positive about life and avoid thinking in paranoia which can lead to negative interpretations to their impulses “we need to identify our necessities and live within our needs and learn to politely so no the things we do not need because human needs never and thus the need to be wise in the choices we make as the earning capacity of some people have reduced after the Covid Lockdown “ he stressed.
