Support for mental health in Covid-19 times, stressed
“The World Mental Health Day is commemorated annually on 10 October to raise awareness on mental health, its causes and risk factors."
Massive scale-up of investment in mental health programmes to redress the neglect of the programme was one of the themes observed as World Mental Health Day was commemorated on Saturday. National health department spokesperson Popo Maja said the up-scaled investment would also ready the programmes for new challenges which were constantly brought on by the changing world order and epidemiological transition.
“We must ensure that people living with mental health problems can access good quality services to enable them to live with dignity,” Maja said.
He added this year’s World Mental Health Day was being commemorated in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic which had brought on a lot of physical, mental and socioeconomic anguish to all people worldwide. Maja said the global pandemic had increased the need for psychosocial support for people, particularly those who were infected and affected by the virus.
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“The World Mental Health Day is commemorated annually on 10 October, to raise awareness on mental health, its causes and risk factors. The day is also used to combat stigma and discrimination against those living with mental disorders.”
He said it was during this time when they called upon people, communities, service providers, researchers and academics to undertake and commit themselves to contribute toward the prevention of mental disorders “as they are preventable”.
“This year’s commemoration comes at a time when our daily lives have changed considerably as a result of the pandemic, and we need to show compassion for fellow human beings irrespective of their material conditions,” Maja said.
He said it was necessary to support each other and, even more so, those who had directly and indirectly, physically, mentally, economically and socially suffered the effects of the pandemic.
“Special attention must be given to those in self-isolation and quarantine and those who had to bury their loved ones under difficult and unusual conditions and rules that had to be adopted to curb the spread.”
Maja also said many people had suffered mental health problems and disorders such as stress, depression, anxiety as a result of the immediate impact of the pandemic which included the loss of family members, income and isolation to contain the possible spread to loved ones since its outbreak earlier this year.
“The front line personnel across all sectors, especially healthcare workers, have had to face unprecedented stress, risk and pressure while treating the infected individuals in isolation, away from their families, and frequently having to deal with the guilt of not being able to save all the lives,” he said.
The stigma and discrimination which was perpetrated against those infected by the virus and their families was also said to have been a “sad reality” which brought additional suffering and negatively affected their efforts to recover from their health and psychological conditions.
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“Individuals with mental health problems, together with their families, are often subjected to stigma, discrimination and victimisation, and this may scare most people from disclosing their conditions including Covid-19 status – something which may put the lives of those around them at huge risk,” Maja said.
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