20 Dec 2022

As the world continues to record a surge in mental health disorders, Botswana appears to have not been spared as statistics paint a rather worrying picture.

Data from the Ministry of Health reveal a rise in the number of people turning up at health facilities with mental health disorders.

The ministry’s chief public relations officer Dr Christopher Nyanga said in a interview that in 2021 alone, Sbrana Psychiatric Hospital, Botswana’s biggest mental health facility, received a total of 11 496 outpatients, 5 192 of whom showed signs of mental illness.

Dr Nyanga explained that whereas the bulk of the 5 192 cases were known cases, 801 were new; a figure that he said was worrying as it showed that mental health disorders were becoming prevalent.

The rising figures recorded in Botswana seem to lend some validation to the World Health Organisation (WHO)’s outlook that indicates that 25 per cent of people globally will suffer from mental disorder in their lifetime.

The statistics further appear to be in consonance with UN secretary-general António Guterres’ statement that presently, over 1 billion people were living with mental health disorders worldwide.

In its news release dated March 2, WHO reported that in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, global prevalence of anxiety and depression shot upwards by 25 per cent.

Botswana on the one hand also began to record a surge in statistics of mental disorders such as depression, adjustment disorders, bipolar mood disorders, para-suicide and suicide attempts, stress-related disorders and schizophrenia or psychosis.

The ministry statistics listed schizophrenia, depression, adjustment disorders, bipolar mood disorders and schizoaffective disorders as topping the list in terms of prevalence locally, Dr Nyanga said.

In addition, he said the recent phenomenon of the increase in substance use disorders in the country posed a huge public health problem, stepping out of which he said Botswana would need to adopt a multi-disciplinary intervention which incorporated community engagement.

To stem the tide, Dr Nyanga said the Ministry of Health had in place, a robust public education system whose objectives included raising awareness on mental health. Further, he said the ministry encouraged those experiencing mental health problems to seek medical help at the earliest for early diagnosis, and he moreover called for an end to the stigmatisation of people with mental health conditions, something that he said could deter people from seeking medical help.

A mental disorder patient, one Mr Kebape Oteng said he landed into depression last year after losing both his parents to COVID-19, a misfortune that was worsened by him also losing his job when his then employer laid off some employees.

 “I remember that fateful day in November 2021 and my head was spinning, I had so much desperation and self-condemnation that I ended up taking a rope and only saw death as the place of safety”, he said, indicating how his inability to provide for his family and his siblings had eventually driven him to the edge.

Narrating his near-death ordeal after he had resolved to end it all by committing suicide, Mr Oteng said while dangling from a tree of the fateful day, ready to breathe his last, two by-passers spotted him and hastily cut the rope, sparing his life and instantly giving him another shot at living.

His ensuing hospital stay saw him receive counselling and undergo therapy sessions, which all became the lifeline that he has been hanging onto to date.

Urging Batswana to always seek help and counselling in order to tackle life’s challenges instead of taking the easiest way out, the mental health survivor is happy that he lived to tell his tale, and that him landing a job a year later was another blessing he would forever be grateful for.  ENDS