08 Nov 2022

Mental health is the fourth leading cause of global disease burden and it is expected to rise in the coming years.

This is according to the World Health Organization (WHO). About 1.3 billion people are affected by mental illness including Botswana which stands at 42 047 with males leading at more than 52.4 per cent and females at 47.6 per cent.

Dr Pearl Phakedi, Chief Medical Officer at Sekgoma Memorial Hospital said this during the World Mental Health commemoration in Serowe on Thursday.

Dr Phakedi said the most prevalent conditions leading to mental illness included schizophrenia, depression, anxiety, substance and alcohol abuse.

She singled out percentages of mental illness cases in three cities with Francistown at 20 per cent, Gaborone at 16.1 per cent and Lobatse at 14.7 per cent.

“We need to protect our children from past traumas, educate them in understanding and managing their emotions as well as attending to those with suicidal thoughts” she added.

She cautioned all to look out for the following signs and symptoms that lead to mental health among them feeling sad or down, confused thinking, reduced concentration and extreme mood changes and withdrawal from friends and activities.

Dr Phakedi highlighted that the day was first recognized in 1992 by the World Federation for mental health and it was commemorated on October 10 every year.

The objective behind the day is to raise awareness of mental health issues and mobilize efforts in support of mental health.

“This day is commemorated annually as an attempt to draw attention to mental illness and its major effects on its people’s lives” she added.

This year, the day was commemorated under the theme: Make mental health and wellbeing for all global priority.

Dr Phakedi challenged all to collectively recognize progress in this field and be vocal on what needs to be done to ensure mental health and wellbeing become a global priority.

Ms Keodumetse Goepamang, a principal registered nurse at Sekgoma Memorial hospital gave a Mental Health District Overview.

She highlighted that in 2021 Serowe and its 12 surrounding areas recorded a total of 1 637 walk-in mental illness patients while 392 of them were admitted.

Meanwhile, in the first quarter of 2022, 479 patients were registered. second quarter they recorded 79 patients of which 29 of them were those who attempted suicide with 14 having suffered from substance abuse.

“Our records show that most males suffer mental illness as a result of substance abuse while females are mostly affected as a result of depression”, she emphasized.

Ms Goepamang pointed out that there was still discrimination against people suffering from mental illness the reason why people do not come out.

A parent whose child is suffering from mental illness narrated the unfortunate events that led to her son’s illness.

Ms Keolopile Matebesi, a mother to 30-year-old Mr Obakeng Matebesi explained how her child’s drink was spiked at a party in 2017.

A Structural and Construction engineering hopeful at the University of Botswana was left with a semester to complete his bachelors.

Ms Matebesi explained that his son went through treatment to flush the drugs from his system but he kept on having relapses which made it impossible to go back to school.

She said in 2020 she decided to have him by her side full-time to monitor his progress.

“It is very painful to deal with a mental illness patient, you always have to be on the lookout because you would never know what he would do to you or himself”, she stressed.

Ms Matebesi said she was affected by her son’s situation that she ended up having to see therapists.

She said one of the challenges she had to face was forcing him to take his medications, it was a real struggle.

She advised all to be very cautious when dealing with patients with mental illness because they could harm themselves and even burn things down. ENDS