04 Mar 2015

Churches have been criticised for misleading patients by stopping them from taking their medications.

A psychiatric nurse at S’brana Psychiatric Hospital, Mr Kagiso Nthobatsang told a UCCSA Women’s Wing Fellowship conference held recently that some churches mislead patients as they encourage them to stop their medication telling them that the disease had been cast away by God’s power.

He urged UCCSA members to lead people on the right path which would lead them to live healthy lives. On issues of mental disorder, Mr Nthobatsang said there were mental diseases that were passed by genes while others were caused by taking drugs.

He added that other mental disorders were caused by road accidents where there would be head injuries and that even alcohol could cause the disease as it damages the nerve system which sends the message to the body.

He further noted that some diseases such as malaria and diabetes could lead to mental disorder.

Mr Nthobatsang implored conference delegates to always take into consideration the symptoms which could indicate a sign of mental disorder.

He noted that some of the symptoms include loss of appetite, hearing voices, seeing things that others could not see and being aggressive.

He said mentally retarded patients should be treated with care, love and given full support.

He also said they should be given a chance to air their views in meetings and to do home chores, adding that they should not be called bad names or labelled. He said parents should encourage patients to go for checkups and accompany them in order to show support.

He added that they should also be involved in community tasks such as Ipelegeng and should not be discriminated against. ENDS