About 2.5 million Lagos residents have been found to be suffering from one form of mental illness or the other, the state Commissioner for Health, Dr Jide Idris, has said.

He said this at a news conference to kick start the World Mental Health Day on Tuesday, which has as its theme, “the great push, invest in mental health.”

According to him, recent studies conducted by the ministry in Lagos shows that an average of 14.1 per cent of the total population of the state suffer from one form of mental illness or another.

He explained that the illnesses might not necessarily be psychosis but untreated minor mental sickness, which affect the quality of life.

Idris noted that so many people suffer from isolation, loss of productive capacity and underdeveloped human potential, which ultimately lead to gross underdevelopment of the state and the country as a whole.

He said, “we should not forget that a lot of social ills in the environment, such as hooliganism, psychotics and people roaming the streets have some relationship with mental health disorders.”

While speaking on the efforts so far made by the government to address the situation, the commissioner said the present administration had decided to invest in mental health.



TRIBUNE NEWSPAPER

Now i can see the reason some lagosians behave the way they do i can see it even in NL both men and women,

We have at least one on nairaland.

Posted by: ezeagu

We have at least one on nairaland.

LOL. Eko-psychoIle.

Eko-Ile comes to mind. hmmmm

chukwu dube anyi nsowu di 

Pretty much all the Ibos in lagos State

No surprises here.


They all behave like they are crazy anyway.

The problem is very noticeable on NL!
But it extends way past Lagos, a great proportion of Nigerians have severe mental health issues, but fail to realise it.

Do you spend too much time in church? See a shrink.
Are you in the mosque for disproportionate lengths of time? See a shrink.
Are you one of those that at the slightest public provocation goes, "do you know who I am, I will lock up your fada!" See the psychiatrist.
Are you Yoruba, Isoko or Igbo, yet you name your child, "Michael Nicodemus" instead of Bimbo, Omezi or Nkem? Help yourself, the shrink waits.
Do you tear your neigbour down and have a herd mentality that see's you in gangs of bullies (eg starting NL threads) to round on your "enemy?". . . Mental issue.
Do you shout a lot? Are you sometimes violent? Argue when you have no clue? All na signs of kresman behaviour. See a shrink.

eko ile

Chei! See how Eko Ile don make some people dey mastu.bate over his name. That guy must be very good in phocking, to make all this big arse niggas dey salivate over his name. Grown up adults openly screeming loud, about how the guy dey phock dem hard,

Beaf:

The problem is very noticeable on NL!
But it extends way past Lagos, a great proportion of Nigerians have severe mental health issues, but fail to realise it.

Are you one of those that at the slightest public provocation goes, "do you know who I am, I will lock up your fada!" See the psychiatrist.
Are you Yoruba, Isoko or Igbo, yet you name your child, "Michael Nicodemus" instead of Bimbo, Omezi or Nkem? Help yourself, the shrink waits.
Do you tear your neigbour down and have a herd mentality that see's you in gangs of bullies (eg starting NL threads) to round on your "enemy?". . . Mental issue.
Do you shout a lot? Are you sometimes violent? Argue when you have no clue? All na signs of kresman behaviour. See a shrink.

Why am i not surprised?i ve said it many times before that that city is traumatising, its f* ked a great deal of its residents up.lagos residents are like junkies, they cant live without the drug even though the ish is messin em up real good,

^ the case is a national epidemic. . .so,quickly see your to comfirm you are not one of those 30 million.


Mental siege: 30 million Nigerians are crazy — Expert
findings THERE is fire on the mountain and no one seems to care as the case of mental health
receives virtually no attention in the country.
The problem we have in Nigeria is that there is no statistics officially, but as at 2007,
according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), there were 20 percent of Nigerians
suffering mentally. With a population of 150 million, what this suggests, figuratively, is
that about 30 million
Nigerians are suffering from mental disorders.
Expert findings also reveal that in the same year, 20 new patients were being admitted at
the Psychiatric Hospital in Yaba, in Lagos alone, everyday. This excludes LASUTH and other
hospitals, and people who don't come for psychiatric help. There are huge millions of
Nigerians going through one depressive disorder or the other. Available facts from experts also point to a startling revelation that the trend will be high in the next 15
years, if nothing is done about it, especially, in achieving the Millennium Development
Goals.
Already, the situation is being blamed on the lackadaisical attitude of the policy makers,
the public, the psychiatrics, based on stigmatization, poor economic state of the nation,
emotional trauma, among others. While the ugly trend is rampant among the down-trodden masses, occasioned by poverty
and since the economic status of man is not the only determinant of manifesting madness
but also human depression which leads to capital depression, the men at the helm of
affairs in the country also need to go through mental test.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mental Health Foundation, Dr. Emmanuel Owoyemi, said,
“if there are depressed people with some level of insanity at the helm of affairs of a country, it will lead to economic depression because they won't do the right thing.
“When Singapore was preparing for its economic leap back then, they formulated a
policy that ensures all of their presidents undergo emotional test before the get to office. “You should understand that it is insanity when a governor embezzles all of the monies
meant for roads and hospitals, and he looks on as people have accidents and die on those
roads. It is insanity when lawmakers know they are being watched all over the world,
and they will still go ahead to fling chairs and exchange blows in the NASS.”
So many times we assume that only the naked people on the streets are mad but recent
studies have proved our guesses wrong as depression that leads to madness comes in form of persistent sadness, anxiety, feelings of hopelessness, guilt, restlessness, loss of
interest in activities including sex, fatigue, decreased energy, and difficulty in
concentration, insomnia or excessive sleep, overeating, loss of appetite, thoughts of
suicide, persistent ache or pain.
Mental health services receive only a very small part of the total annual health budget in
Nigeria which is 3per cent of Gross Domestic Product amounting to $7 per capita. Recent studies discovered that only around 10per cent of those with severe mental
illnesses, like schizophrenia, receive treatment.
The state and federal psychiatric hospitals are only located in the urban areas making it
difficult for those in the rural areas to access the care they deserve.
For most patients and families, the first point of call is the traditional healer or prayer
house. But then each sickness should be addressed as it relates to the causes. Owoyemi said “one out of four people will experience some kind of mental health
problem in the course of the year, one in four women will require treatment for
depression at some point compared to one in 10 men, one in 4 unemployed people has a
common mental health problem, depression affects one in 5 older people living in the
community, two in 5 living in care homes and 9 out of 10 prisoners ha mental disorder. Owoyemi said “most Nigerians do not like coming out to tell people that they are mentally
disordered because of our secretive nature, yet we are dying silently. In his own comments, the Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Health, Dr. Femi
Olugbile, said “any particular person in the course of living his life will have some mental
health syndrome or the other and Nigeria has not recognized the special needs for people
suffering with mental disorder.” Olugbile said “any particular person in the course of living his life will have some mental
health syndrome or the other and Nigeria has not recognized the special needs for people
suffering with mental disorder.” He revealed that Nigeria has no budget, policy, framework and grant for mental health
programme, and the bill is yet to be passed.
According to Director General, Institute of National Transformation, Professor Vincent
Anogbogun said “Nigeria will continue to have instability because we have young
populations that are unemployed and the situation will be worst by 50per cent by 2030
due to climate change if nothing drastic is done as Nigeria is already at the critical point of failure.” Owoyemi noted the determinants of wellness as positive sense of being, belief in oneself,
ability to deal with the inner world of thinking, managing life, taking risks, ability to
initiate and sustain personal relationship and spiritual life. Anigbogun said the only way to move the nation forward in this aspect is to produce
disciplined people with disciplined thoughts and actions that will lead to national
transformation. Essentially, Owoyemi said the place of mental health in nation building and achieving the
MDGs is very paramount in the nation because five out its goals are tied to health and
“there is no health without mental health.” He stressed the need to address mental health
as it cuts across the MDGs and a very important focus in achieving the goals. Historical details
The first indigenous Nigerian psychiatric professional was a psychiatric nurse, Mr
Abraham Ordia. He was the first Nigerian to hold a senior position in what was then
called the Asylum at Yaba in 1952.
The first Nigerian doctor specialising in mental health as a Psychiatrist, was the late
Professor Thomas Adeoye Lambo. He was trained in Britain, and returned to Nigeria in 1954, making an international name for himself in Aro Hospital, Abeokuta with his
renowned Village System of care. He realised that people who are taken away from their home communities to be treated
actually find it harder to be independent when they go home than those who receive
care in the community.
This era also saw a revolution in medical treatment for mental illnesses. It was only with
the discovery of effective medication in the 1950s that the most severe symptoms could
be effectively controlled. Even people with very disturbed behaviour could recover and return to their
communities. Sadly, the system in Nigeria has not kept up with these early advances. Recent studies
based in Nigeria have shown that only around 10% of people with severe mental illness
receive the care they need. The specialist hospitals in big cities like Lagos, Ibadan, Enugu, Calabar and Sokoto are not
sufficient to provide care that is affordable and accessible by the majority of the
population that needs it. Lack of human and financial resources Nigeria only has about 130 specialist psychiatrists, less than one per million of the
population compared to a typical figure in European countries of one per 10,000 people.
There are more Nigerian psychiatrists in Britain alone than in Nigeria. We are slightly better served with psychiatric nurses, who would form the basis of a
primary health-care based service. Nigeria in fact trains significant numbers of these
essential staff, though many are also lost to the brain drain. In Nigeria less than 3% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is spent on health, and of this less
than 1% is allocated to mental health.
The figure recommended by the WHO for mental health is 5%, and in many countries it is
nearer 15% The low level of expenditure means that even if services were well
organised, the majority of cases could not receive the care they need. The most severe mental illnesses require long-term treatment. Although this treatment
when given in the community is not expensive, the system of paying out-of-pocket
means that many families find it hard to afford the care their loved ones need month after
month. It is unclear whether the National Health Insurance Scheme will adequately cover
mental ill health. Policy and legislation In Africa overall, less than 50% of countries have a mental health policy. In Nigeria, the
progressive 1991 primary health care policy states that mental health should be
integrated at the primary care level. In response to the international priority being given to mental health, there are now plans
to update Nigeria's legislation.
At present, the existing legislation dates back to British colonial laws of 1916, later
adopted as the Lunacy Act in 1958. The legislative process has not responded effectively
to the need for radical reform of the sector. A 2003 bill for a mental health act passed a public hearing and was adopted by the
Senate, but was not able to pass the House of Representatives and be adopted into law
before the end of the last administration. With support from the WHO, the Federal Ministry of Health has brought together a team of
experts to make recommendations for laws that will safeguard the interests of people
with mental health problems in the country, and a policy that will allow for services to
reach those whose needs are currently not met. If these plans are to be implemented,
significantly higher levels of resources will need to be devoted to this neglected area.

anyone who is suprised at this news should aslo [size=20pt]See a Shrink[/size]

@arsenal fc, , and i suppose ure mentally alright, *talk to the fingers*

so? jst 2.5m lagosians? wen almost all our so-called leadas are either bipolar or, mentally challengd. dey ve only got brains for looting natnal treasury.

arsenefc:

Pretty much all the Ibos in lagos State

No surprises here.


They all behave like they are crazy anyway.

evidence of brain retardation

netghost:

evidence of brain retardation

lol there can only be one ghost on nairaland oya delete ur account asap just kidding netghost nice why didnt i think of that

eghost247:

lol there can only be one ghost on nairaland oya delete your account asap just kidding netghost nice why didnt i think of that

LOL
i mainly hunt the programming section

So true, they only need to cite nairaland as reference. Sometimes, l wonder if some posters here are really like this in real life. All you have to do to activate the madness clause is just type you disagree and before you go to give reasons they have swarmed over you.

Well, that's the internet where real dweebs are transformed into don juans.

Beaf:

The problem is very noticeable on NL!
But it extends way past Lagos, a great proportion of Nigerians have severe mental health issues, but fail to realise it.

Do you spend too much time in church? See a shrink.
Are you in the mosque for disproportionate lengths of time? See a shrink.
Are you one of those that at the slightest public provocation goes, "do you know who I am, I will lock up your fada!" See the psychiatrist.
Are you Yoruba, Isoko or Igbo, yet you name your child, "Michael Nicodemus" instead of Bimbo, Omezi or Nkem? Help yourself, the shrink waits.
Do you tear your neigbour down and have a herd mentality that see's you in gangs of bullies (eg starting NL threads) to round on your "enemy?". . . Mental issue.
Do you shout a lot? Are you sometimes violent? Argue when you have no clue? All na signs of kresman behaviour. See a shrink.

LMFAO
but u forgot 1, do u post d kind of thing u just did?? omo na so craze dey start o!!! visit d closest psychia o

Who did the testing that the statistics was built on

I doubt the accuracy of this figure. Its more than that.

The accuracy of the figures is questionable, however its not surprising as mental health is not taken seriously in nigeria.

What an alarming Rate!
At what stage then does one become mad?

All this stat are not reliable. How is that possible

I am very positive that this estimate is very wrong.

There are MORE that 2.5 million "kolo" Lagosians

Being a mental retardeen is not far fetched. I think the state of the country and the hustle and bustle of Lagos has made the average lagosian eg ekoile etc mentally impoverished.

Lagos is the type of City that would drive anyone crazy, I wonder which is higher because Somalia has a similar Rate,

2.5 million people? that is more than the entire population of some states, chei