The global community observed yesterday as the World Mental Day (WMD).
The day is set aside annually to draw the attention of governments and healthcare givers to the need to seriously address the challenges faced the mentally ill populace and the dangers they pose to the communities they live in.
The theme of this year’s commemoration is “Young People and Mental Health in a Changing World”.
Statistics by the World Health Organisation (WHO) reveal that three are over 300m people afflicted by all manner of mental disorders.
Specifically, the world body reveals that one out of every six Africans suffers from mental ailment.
This is, no doubt, a sad commentary on the so-called Dark Continent where many Africans who are battling with mental illness often do not get the required attention and treatment.
Globally, about 8m people kill themselves as a result of mental health disorder annually.
Although no reliable data on the population of the mentally challenged in Nigeria are readily available, the persistent economic hardship has pushed many more people into the pack.
Besides endemic corruption which is an invidious crime that impoverishes the masses, another major factor responsible for this state of affairs is bad governance which has been the hallmark of successive administrations.
Then, there is selfinduced lunacy especially among the youths who indulge in reckless use of all manner of hard drugs.
It is common knowledge that most of the victims of mental ailment do not have access to modern therapy.
Many patients are subjected to undignified treatment, such as being chained to trees or beds, locked in a cage, left without food for hours, deprived of family support and adequate personal hygiene.
Mental health patients deserve respect and compassion as they cope with their disease, as it is expected of those who suffer from any other disease.
Some countries on the continent have implemented a range of measures to restore the dignity of patients and improve awareness and access to mental health services at all levels of the health care system.
This includes revision of their mental health legislation in order to protect the rights and dignity of persons affected by the condition.
However, the promotion of good mental health and understanding of its challenges, together with early detection, treatment and dignity of the patients are still a major concern in the country.
Most towns and cities have their own fair share of insane people living among sane members of the public.
During the colonial era, asylums for lunatics were established in different parts of the country to cater for all categories of mentally challenged persons.
Today, many of such institutions have vanished.
There seems to be no clear-cut demarcation between psychiatric wards and asylums in hospitals.
We, however, know that wards are meant for patients whose cases may be within redemption, while asylums are used to quarantine those who have slipped into permanent insanity.
Some of them that are on the loose look harmless, but there are others that constitute public nuisance along the streets, at worship centres, motor parks, social gatherings and market places.
Some beggarlunatics go violent when denied alms or when the alms fall short of their expectations.
There have been incidents of lunatics attacking motorists or smashing their vehicles’ windscreens unprovoked.
Mentally challenged persons deserve pity and help.
Government at all levels can help.
It has the responsibility of ensuring the wellbeing of all citizens, lunatics not excluded.
Some mental disorders are inherited, but insanity could also be triggered off by socio-economic challenges.
These days, some Nigerians are seen talking to nobody in particular, on top of their voices, while walking along the streets.
Some pedestrians, lost in thought, cross roads without minding vehicular movements.
Some drive dangerously.
Any of these is a manifestation of mental imbalance partly caused by the prevailing circumstances in the country.
Psychiatric patients should not be stigmatised.
They should be treated as people suffering from any of the numerous non-communicable diseases around us.
At the first sign of trouble, patients or their family members should seek medical attention and treatment.
However, they should be wary of spiritual homes and herbalists that lay claim to curing insanity by subjecting their patients to all manner of physical tortures as a way of casting out demons in their bodies.
Many of such patients have been sent to their early graves through battering.
Urgent steps must be taken to slow down the march by the suffering masses into the psychiatric fold.
Nevertheless, we call on the various governments to consider bringing back lunatic asylums as a means of curbing the public nuisance that lunatics constitute.
Aside from mental disorder fueled by the current economic woes, there is also the need for public enlightenment campaigns that would discourage our youths from embracing such habits that lead to mental imbalance.
