LAGOS – Some psychiatrists and psychologists said lack of awareness constituted a major challenge in the stigmatisation of people living with depression in Nigeria.
They told newsmen in Lagos that continuous enlightenment programmes would help to create more awareness about the disorder in order to reduce its burden.
A Consultant Psychiatrist, Dr Maymunah Kadiri, said that the prevalence rates of depression in Nigeria were higher due to environmental factors that contributed to its genesis.
Kadiri is the Chief Medical Officer at a Lagos based private hospital, Pinnacle Medical Services.
“In developing countries like Nigeria, the prevalence rates of depression are higher because environmental factors that contribute to the genesis of depressive disorders are more preponderant.
“These include high rates of poverty, a lack of social welfare and high rates of endemic infectious diseases, to mention just a few.
“Also, depression tends to be masked by somatic symptoms, which may explain why it is under- diagnosed or under-recognised.
“Prevalence rates vary from 11 per cent to 60 per cent and higher rates are observed, depending on study setting and assessment tool, “ she said.
The consultant said that the way forward to reducing stigmatisation was by creating more awareness through health promotion, seminars, and the involvement of the media.
She said, “Other ways are through providing education in schools, government agencies, various organisations about depression, the impact on academic, work, and the importance of seeking treatment.
“And most especially, people should refer them to the appropriate specialists who can treat them.
Also speaking, the Head of Department, Psychiatry, University of Lagos, Prof. Joseph Adeyemi said most people did not visit psychiatrists when they felt the symptoms of depression.
He said that such attitude was due to unawareness and fear of being stigmatised, thereby making it difficult for people with depression to present themselves at the hospitals.
“Many of them will rather try to look for other explanations to their problems which will further delay their visiting the hospital for proper diagnosis and treatment, “ he said.
The professor said that more than 90 per cent of people who were depressed were likely not to get attention when they visited regular doctors.
“The doctors tend not to diagnose the symptoms of depression and will rather talk about the physical problems than the emotional ones.
“These people attribute most of their problems to spiritual ones and so they start visiting spiritualists which will further compound their problems, “ he said.
Adeyemi said that people’s attitude toward those suffering from depression was poor and as such, there was need for public enlightenment by mental health professionals in order to change people’s attitude.
“Such enlightenment programmes will make people understand the disorder and stigmatisation will reduce.
“People should be made to know that once symptoms of the disorder are identified, such should be referred to the health professionals for immediate attention, “ he said.
Also, an Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Dr Abiodun Adewuya, said that many unemployed graduates were likely to develop low self esteem due to unemployment in the first few years of graduation.
Adewuya is the Head, Behavioural Medicine Department, Lagos State University College of Medicine, Ikeja.
“Many of such graduates end up in depression; disappointment in their families and the society, which can lead to negative reactions such as violence, robbery, suicide and rape.
“In order for many of them to alleviate depression, they tend to engage in substance use including drug and alcohol abuse, “ he said.
Adewuya urged the Federal Government to create a system that would allow establishment of industries where people could be employed.
“The government should provide an enabling environment including the provision of good roads and constant electricity for companies to develop in the area of production, while employing many people.
“There is also a need to shift education from the basic to technical work, hand- work, so that many people will be skilled in various fields.
“This will reduce the burden of unemployment and therefore reduce the rate of mentally ill people in the society,“ he said.
In her contribution, Dr Olubukola Hassan, Founder, Nightingale Mental Health Foundation, urged the three tiers of government to take mental health as one of their major policies.
“We will like our governments at the local, state and Federal levels to see the importance of mental health, not only for the millions who still go untreated.
“They should see the importance, also, for the economies of individual poverty and lack of well-being in our nation,” she said.
According to her, there is a need for collaboration with individuals and corporate organisations in providing services in the mental health sector.
