A NEW survey has identified that drug abuse and sickness of the mind are the major causes of mental illness in Nigeria. It also shows there is a poor perception of mental health in the country.

The report titled Mental Health in Nigeria Survey was conducted by Africa Polling Institute and EpiAfric, a health consultancy services, and released on Tuesday.

The people interviewed for the survey were 5, 315 aged above 18 between September 2 and 28, 2019. The respondents spread across all senatorial districts and states including the Federal Capital Territory through Face-to-Face Household Interviews, using a stratified quota sampling technique.

Drug abuse was identified as the major cause of mental illness, followed closely with a sickness of the mind.

It found out there were lots of wrong perception Nigerians have about mental health disease. This included 70 per cent of citizens believing mental health disease is “when someone starts running around naked”.

While 63 per cent were of the opinion that it is “When someone starts talking to himself or herself”, 54 per cent of the respondents indicated that mental illness when someone harming oneself or others.

The report also stated that some believed that mental health disease is transferable.

More Nigerians in rural areas viewed mental health disease as possession by evil spirits, it stated.

“Across the six geo-political zones, Nigerians seem to share this sentiment.”

In unraveling attitude of Nigerians should they become aware of someone with the illness, the report showed that some Nigerians would seek spiritual help for people suffering from mental disease. It recorded that 18 percent of the respondents indicated to take an individual with a mental health disorder to a prayer house for deliverance, eight percent showed interest in the service of a traditional medicine healer.

READ MORE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/report-reveals-drug-abuse-is-major-cause-of-mental-disorder-in-nigeria/