12 Oct 2014

The Commissioner of Prisons and Rehabilitation, Colonel Silas Motlalekgosi has said people living with schizophrenia do recover with proper treatment and care.

Speaking during the World Mental Health Day commemorations in Kasane on Friday, October 10, Col. Motlalekgosi said schizophrenia is a severe mental disorder characterised by profound hallucinations and delusions. 

“Health care workers, family members and members of the community have to work together to ensure the continuity of care from the home to the hospital and back into the community,” he said.

He said it was also the responsibility of individual Motswana to ensure that they invest in positive living for people living with schizophrenia. 

The World Health Organisation (WHO) chief health officer Rehabilitation and Mental Health, Ms Gaboelwe Rammekwa said seven people per 1000 adult population aged between 15 and 35 are mostly affected.

“In many instances people with mental health problems are often not liked, neglected, seen and made to feel like they are a burden and can never make any meaningful contribution,” she said.

She said there was less funding in many countries for mental health promotion, which requires a multi-sectoral approach, involving a number of government sectors, non-governmental and community-based organisations and any other relevant stakeholders. 

“The focus of such an approach is to promote mental health throughout the lifespan of an individual to ensure a healthy start in life, and to prevent mental disorders in adulthood and old age,” said Ms Rammekwa.

Giving a testimony, a Kasane resident and a recovered schizophrenia patient, Mr David Kanyevu said he was able to live a normal life despite having been diagnosed with the mental condition years ago.

Mr Kanyevu said it was alcohol and smoking that triggered his mental condition. 

He said the side effects he experienced from the medication made him look disfigured.

“The side effects of the medication made my head face a certain direction whilst my lower body would face the opposite direction,” said Mr Kanyevu.

He said despite having been diagnosed as a schizophrenic patient he was able to hold important positions in the community such as being the chairperson of the village development committee after recovering.

Kasane Primary Hospital psychiatric nurse, Ms Lebogang Kgokgonyane said the Chobe District has about 130 mental health patients and that schizophrenia dominates at 75 per cent. ENDS