“Government must live up to its responsibility by taking a lead role in ensuring that mental disorder cases are minimised…,” an expert says.
Job Osazuwa
On a certain Saturday in July, a light-complexioned young man stood by the median of the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway at Shogunle Bus Stop in Lagos.
He was stark naked, but he held his clothes firmly to his chest. Then he muttered some incoherent words.
The handsome man, who appeared to be in his early 30s, caused quite a scene. Passersby from afar looked at him in apparent bewilderment, but quickly turned their faces away. Questions were asked, and there was a display of sympathy by those at the scene, including motorists and commuters.
It was gathered that the man in question was neatly dressed just a few minutes earlier and was seen walking along the busy expressway. But he suddenly began to behave funny and eventually started removing his clothes one after the other until none was left, including his underwear.
It is common to come across a number of young men and women on the streets of major cities in Nigeria suffering from one form of mental challenge or the other. This has become worrisome to many.
Despite several warnings by medical experts, religious, community leaders and other stakeholders on the dangers of all kinds of hard drugs and mood-altering substances, their misuse and abuse has continued to soar, especially among the youths.
Experts and other concerned Nigerians told the reporter that a lot of factors could be responsible for the sudden increase in mental cases on the streets, but they narrowed them down and agreed that drug abuse and the get-rich-quick syndrome stand out among others.
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In a chat with Daily Sun, a consultant psychiatrist at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) and vice president, Association of Psychiatrists in Nigeria (APN), Dr. Ladipo Adepoju, said he had managed ?many mental cases in his career as fallouts of drug abuse, which often leads to mental disorder.
“The possible reasons that Nigerian youths are affected by the disorder are many. The challenge nowadays is the widespread use of psychoactive substances. While you are trying to ban one, they are uncovering another. And this is a huge problem.
“So, rather than just handle these affected people to experts in the orthodox domain, there has been a battle between getting mentally unbalanced people for orthodox treatment and the traditional system of taking care of these sets of people.
“As the number of these substances increases, there is also a high level of awareness. The issues and cases are more reported nowadays. But principally, what has really increased regarding mental occurrence is the environmental factors. There are factors that have not changed or that you cannot change, which are biological. But other factors are still there. These are the use of psychoactive substances, environmental toxins and so on, which can lead to the possible reasons that lead to the increase of the number of youths being affected by mental disorder,” he said
Adepoju expressed concern over the number of youngsters who are presented with more mental challenges unlike in the past. He lamented the breakdown of family values as having a negative impact on the youths. He said most families were no longer seen as a first line of defence against what was obtainable some decades ago.
Said he: “These kids are thrown into the society to learn on their own but the society doesn’t offer the safety dragnet it used to be proud of in the past when morals were high; when everyone’s child was everybody’s child. Some kids have been locked up by their parents in their homes without learning anything. Immediately such children are released to the society, there is the tendency for the children to misbehave. Many youths want to try many things they don’t even know as a result of peer pressure.
“The roles of parents in curtailing this trend are very crucial. It is unfortunate that we now have absentee parents. They have or have created their own challenges that have overwhelmed them, therefore abandoning their kids in their own world of learning. The available learning options for such children become the internet and television where they pick up all social vices that one could think of.
“For we to reverse this trend, we must return to all the checks and balances on our children. Parents will have to work but will it be to the detriment of your children who might end up tomorrow to become a nuisance in the society. It is really a problem that most people tend to downplay.”
According to him, apart from the families’ roles, the government and other institutions must contribute their quota in order to curtail the disturbing trend, which keeps tearing the fabric of the society. He also cited the high level of unemployment in Nigeria as part of the factors luring youths to illicit activities.
Adepoju stressed that tackling drug abuse and wrong use should be everybody’s business. He explained that the attendant effect do not only take a toll on the individuals and their families but on the entire society. He regretted that the promising future of many had been truncated as a result of drug abuse.
He maintained that drug misuse could hardly be separated from psychiatry.
He explained that a complete health involves the mental and physical state of the mind, including the social aspect of the individual involved. He said there were critical health challenges that could also lead to mental imbalance, especially as one grows older.
Also contributing, a consultant psychiatrist on adolescent mental health at the Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Aro, Ogun State, Dr Aina Kikelomo Oyekanmi, said the children of today were too restless and adventurous, adding that they needed to be checked.
“Today’s youths are faced with many challenges. Once a certain type of handset is out, before they finish learning the features, another one is manufactured. Youths, even children of nowadays want to try their hands on so many things. Most of them don’t have enough sleep while they surf the internet, which can also adversely affect their mental health.
“Despite the challenges, the parents, guardians and other caregivers should wake up from their slumber to inculcate sound morals in the young ones. The family is the first point of learning for every child. If a child misses to learn the basic values of life, it could be impossible to correct when he or she becomes an adult. The brain is designed to develop with aging and whatever one learns influences one’s behavioural pattern,” Oyekanmi said.
One of the basic symptoms of mental disorder, according to Adepoju, is deviation from what the person used to be, and one must be able to develop some kind of suspicion to notice this strange behaviour. He said it could be that the communication, social engagement, feeding, sleeping, working or walking has changed.
“Other symptoms could be low performance in school, overreacting or under reacting to issues against as it used to be for the person in question.
“The family must know that they are the first line of protection and they must not abrogate that responsibility. Also, the government must live up to its responsibility by taking a lead role in ensuring that mental disorder cases are minimised to the least in the society,” the expert said.
Corroborating others’ views, the convener of a non-governmental organisation (NGO), Nous Foundation Nigeria Limited, which focuses on mental health issues, Lade Olugbemi advised people to break the silence on mental health issues. She urged people to go to federal neuropsychiatric hospitals, for a diagnosis and comprehensive follow-up rather than relying on traditional methods.
While stressing the need for early treatment, she said shying away from the reality on ground had pushed many families to take the wrong steps, thereby further compounding their woes.
The Pastor of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Ile-Iwe parish, Lagos, Samuel Akintola, said the get- rich-quick syndrome mentality among the youths was partly responsible for the rise in people affected with mental problems.
“It is sad that the youths we have today are those who want to drive the latest cars and live in the best houses by any means. They don’t bother whether the means are illegitimate. This could push them to take irrational decision that can later affect their proper metal functioning. People grab some kinds of jobs just because of the money involved; not necessarily because they will find fulfilment in the job. There are other categories that don’t want to work at all.
“This is the situation we find ourselves in. For us to deal with it, there must be a moral rebirth in all families. The family remains the strongest institution to build the kind of society we all must live in. Wealth is good but when people begin to display desperation, then crimes set in,” Akintola said.
The clergyman urged the various regulatory agencies to be more active in clamping down on drug barons and their syndicates who are feeding fat on the clandestine business, but destroying people and the society.