Can mental illness be treated in hospitals?

SHITTU: Have you heard about Ibrahim’s illness?

Igwe: No, I have not heard. Is Ibrahim ill? What happened to him?

Shittu: He has gone mad; in fact, he has been taken to Yaba Psychiatric Hospital.

Igwe: Really? That is serious. But he never showed any signs of smoking weed or taking hard drugs. What could have caused it?

Shittu: Why are you talking like this now? Don’t you know that it is a spiritual matter? They are wasting their time taking him to Yaba. They have to seek a spiritual solution to this spiritual problem. Otherwise, he will never recover.

Igwe: Hmm, people are wicked, so one has to be careful so as not to be afflicted with mental illness.

Shittu: In fact, it calls for serious prayers, especially in Ibrahim’s case that he has already gone into the market with his ‘madness’ before they caught him. He can never be well again!

Commentary

This sort of discussion is all too common and simply reflects the widely-held perceptions in our community about mental illness. But is it only those who smoke weed or take hard drugs that can suffer from mental illness? Could it be that mental illnesses are caused by spiritual attacks? After all, everyone knows that doctors and hospitals can never cure mental illness; and in Africa Magic movies, the patient only gets better when these doctors refer the patient to traditional or spiritual healers, right? NO.

Such misconceptions largely arise from the very poor understanding of the nature of mental illness and the strangeness of it all. This is further compounded by the secrecy, shame and embarrassment that often accompany mental health challenges, which prevent open discussions, as the problems are only discussed in hushed tones and the use of innuendoes.

In reality, our thoughts, feelings, emotions and behaviour are simply a function of certain chemicals in our brains. Thus, when we feel happy or sad; when we think about a problem and are able to arrive at a solution or make up our minds about what to do; when we want to remember something, and we think hard and suddenly remember it – we are simply using our brains and certain chemicals are working hard to allow us to perform these functions.

Thus, when there are abnormal changes in the levels of these brain chemicals, they affect our thinking processes, and our feelings of happiness or sadness (emotions). Indeed, our memory, judgement and behaviour are also affected by such changes in brain chemicals.

Mental health challenges often arise from a change in the level of these brain chemicals and can be correctly identified, and treated with the help of drugs that correct these changes and restore normal balance. Once this is restored, such individuals recover fully and can live their normal lives.

In some cases, they may need to continue taking their drugs to ensure that the levels of the affected chemicals remain normal. They will also benefit from regular clinic attendance for follow-up reviews by the psychiatrist.

This is like what happens to individuals with hypertension or diabetes for example. Persons with diabetes are unable to tolerate or utilize glucose maximally because a chemical (insulin) is not working well, or the levels are not adequate. Thus, such persons usually would need to take medications for the rest of their lives and change their diets to manage the blood sugar levels. In very severe cases, they may need to be receiving daily insulin injections in order to help their body utilize glucose properly. This is in addition to going to clinic regularly for check-up, while checking their blood and urine sugar levels periodically.

Thus, mental health challenges are no different from those of other chronic medical conditions such as diabetes or hypertension with respect to the fact that they are treatable with medications; and with the requirements of regular clinic follow-up and taking medications on a regular daily basis, as may be necessary. It is therefore, a misconception that such persons cannot recover again or that they have spiritual problems without a medical solution.

Conclusion

Individuals with mental health challenges should be encouraged to seek evaluation by psychiatrists and to benefit from appropriate therapies (psychological as well as use of medications) in order to help them recover quickly and maintain their normal functioning in society. We should therefore show more understanding and be supportive of affected individuals. Let us encourage them to seek for treatment and not to stop the treatment once they start feeling better. The approach to care should be the same for all chronic medical conditions: whether it is diabetes, hypertension or mental illness. Let us stop the stigma and discrimination against persons with mental health problems.

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