About18 million Nigerians representing 12 percent of the nation’s 150 million population require medical attention on mentalrelated ailments, a United Kingdom-based Nigerian Consultant Psychiatrist and CEO of Snapse Services, Dr Vincent Udenze, has said.

Udenze spoke yesterday at a one-day interactive session on improving the role of the family in mental health care held in Abuja. He, however, said there could have been a drastic decline in the figure but for lateness in diagnosis and treatment.

Dr. Udenze listed possible causes of mental disease to include addiction to drug and alcohol and excessive depression, noting that families of affected persons have basic roles to play in ensuring prompt diagnosis and treatment for people living with the disorder. While calling on private investors to come into the rescue in the country, he expressed displeasure with public attitude towards the patients, saying: “Those with diabetics go on the street, we don’t stigmatise them.

Those with high blood pressure go to work, we don’t stigmatise them. We talk about those people with mental disorder badly when they are actually someone dear to us; when they are actually members of some particular families.

“Unfortunately, when we say mental illness, most of us jump into conclusion and think of the man on the street, the person we call the mad man; we stigmatize him. That is a lady or gentleman who had been unfortunately let down by the society because he is ill, no one cares for him or her; she is left there on the street. In some cultures, they even get abused, raped.

There is thinking that if you sleep with a mad woman, you can make some money. So, society abuses them. All of us as Nigerians, what are we doing about this?” He added that families are often stigmatized along with the patients after a cure is achieved, and that such stigmatization could last for generations.

According to him, mental disorder did not mean that the person on the street could not be healed. Udenze said that services of professionals should be sought to save the patients from the disease. Mental illness, he said, is manageable like diabetics and hypertension, among others, stressing that early diagnosis and treatment was the best way to treating

http://nationalmirroronline.net/new/18-million-nigerians-are-mentally-sick-expert/

Still on this, 12% of Nairalanders or about 18,000 numbers who post everyday are mentally derailed.
No wonder.

Nai be wetn my lecturer de teach for class now

is becos of lack of garri. wats my position pls

This is really crazy. But wait a minute it could be true, because some percentage member of Nairaland Mentall illness is fast increasing.

ha ha ha ha

U WEY POST THIS INFO, U TOO FOLLOW AMONG THE PERCENTAGE...

Yay!

omo na mental case ooo na craze them take de cure craze now i go die abi basket mouth say if you no get money at all na 2 minites to madness ooo

plus you and ur useless famliy/lineage/generation.

ITbomb: Still on this, 12% of Nairalanders or about 18,000 numbers who post everyday are mentally derailed.
No wonder.

it reflects by the knds of craps some nairalanders post here. Those ones in the habit of saying 'how does this affects the price of garri' or first to comment,second to comment are also included in d list. ish,abeg am out jare

I no fit laff... na true na, na 4 traffic u go c dem pass

How many of our leaders are on that list?

The number is quite more than that, they havent heard or M a d Cow, 190 etc.

That explains a lot on this forum!

UK-BASED..hw hm take knw?? Evrybdy go jst wake up bringing out figures without proof..especially dis wyt pesin go jst dey hm office taking coffee n bringing out all sorts of statistics n figures

lekanolas: About18 million Nigerians representing 12 percent of the nation’s 150 million population require medical attention on mentalrelated ailments, a United Kingdom-based Nigerian Consultant Psychiatrist and CEO of Snapse Services, Dr Vincent Udenze, has said.

Udenze spoke yesterday at a one-day interactive session on improving the role of the family in mental health care held in Abuja. He, however, said there could have been a drastic decline in the figure but for lateness in diagnosis and treatment.

Dr. Udenze listed possible causes of mental disease to include addiction to drug and alcohol and excessive depression, noting that families of affected persons have basic roles to play in ensuring prompt diagnosis and treatment for people living with the disorder. While calling on private investors to come into the rescue in the country, he expressed displeasure with public attitude towards the patients, saying: “Those with diabetics go on the street, we don’t stigmatise them.

Those with high blood pressure go to work, we don’t stigmatise them. We talk about those people with mental disorder badly when they are actually someone dear to us; when they are actually members of some particular families.

“Unfortunately, when we say mental illness, most of us jump into conclusion and think of the man on the street, the person we call the mad man; we stigmatize him. That is a lady or gentleman who had been unfortunately let down by the society because he is ill, no one cares for him or her; she is left there on the street. In some cultures, they even get abused, raped.

There is thinking that if you sleep with a mad woman, you can make some money. So, society abuses them. All of us as Nigerians, what are we doing about this?” He added that families are often stigmatized along with the patients after a cure is achieved, and that such stigmatization could last for generations.

According to him, mental disorder did not mean that the person on the street could not be healed. Udenze said that services of professionals should be sought to save the patients from the disease. Mental illness, he said, is manageable like diabetics and hypertension, among others, stressing that early diagnosis and treatment was the best way to treating

http://nationalmirroronline.net/new/18-million-nigerians-are-mentally-sick-expert/

18 million? How did he arrive at this figure?
Who carried out the research? There are different types of lies: lies, white lies and statistics.

Nigeria has enough problems already. Don't frighten us the more with these guesstimates.

That figure is wrong, it should be much higher, that include the OP, the psychiatrist experts, and the publisher of that article.

Majourity of dem re on Nl

;DGo gaga goin crazy naija pple.4get abt ur mary kay

ITbomb: Still on this, 12% of Nairalanders or about 18,000 numbers who post everyday are mentally derailed.
No wonder.

am not suprisd with d lykes of bluetooth,egg heads,dayokun,eko ile nd all the onibaje crew in this forum shows half of dis number com frm the sw.abeg no ban me for sayng the truth o

Choi....abeg make them start from aso rock o...no wonder we dey live under derailed system of government Choi....abeg make them start from aso rock o...no wonder we dey live under derailed system of government

i hope there not including conductors n agboro.

This is probably a very conservative estimate.

Maybe, maybe not. But, fact: much more than multiples of 18million Nigerians are madly poor, and economically sick!

lekanolas: About18 million Nigerians representing 12 percent of the nation’s 150 million population require medical attention on mentalrelated ailments, a United Kingdom-based Nigerian Consultant Psychiatrist and CEO of Snapse Services, Dr Vincent Udenze, has said.

Now I know why certain comments appear on NL by the likes of... (I'm not gonna name names)

Wen money no dey,we are still counting joor b4 nxt week he go don reach 35million nigerians..

so gbogbo wa ti ya were abi? edokay

i was thinking 130 million

Where did he get the statistics. Who and who are his sambles? How did he come about the figure. I know that there are mad people in Nigeria but I Strongly disagree with the Doctor, NigerianS are not the hard drug takers rather we are part of the sellers. If we take a close look at the rate in which hard drugs are consumed StatiStically, then, Nigeria is on the least. Nigerians are not known as depressed set, even in the face of death, the slogan will be 'E go better'.
Why associate every bad thing to Nigeria, Haba!

NA HIM PAPA DEY MENTAL

kkkp: UK-BASED..hw hm take knw?? Evrybdy go jst wake up bringing out figures without proof..especially dis wyt pesin go jst dey hm office taking coffee n bringing out all sorts of statistics n figures

Na only mad person dey ask dis kind question,abeg go see ur doctor joor