Kisumu Bus Park Shooting: Mental Health is a War in the Head
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- March 9, 2021
That man should be checked. He should be put through tests to determine his state of mind!
Everyone seemed to agree with the preposition. They also seemed to agree that such actions were not familiar among Africans.
According to media reports, the man grabbed a pistol from a traffic police officer. He went on an indiscriminate shooting spree, threatening the lives of innocent citizens who were up and about trying to make ends meet. What they failed to recognize was that mental health issues do not discriminate. Once you fall victim, lack of immediate and appropriate medical intervention transforms an individual into a ticking time bomb. The longer an individual takes to seek the necessary medical intervention, the more dangerous they become to society.
Mental health issues discreetly gather might, and when they do attack, they do with the viciousness that causes irreparable dent.
The past few months have been replete with cases that, according to experts, seem to border the characteristics of mental health. The surge in incidences prompted the president during the 2020 Madaraka Day to direct the Ministry of Health to form a Task Force on Mental Health to look into the problem. Formed in December the same year, the Task Force on Mental Health went around the country gathering information about the rise in murder cases, suicide, anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorders, and an eating disorder.
Apart from other recommendations on dealing with the menace of mental health in the country, the Task Force’s findings on Mental Health revealed that there existed a need to declare mental health a national disaster to facilitate a focus on the development and implementation of effective mitigation measures.
Studies on mental health reveal that about six million Kenyans suffer from common mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, substance abuse, and stress. The statistical figures translate into about 1 in every 4 Kenyans battling one or more mental health problems.
Many people report financial issues as the reason for depressive tendencies. The tough economic times push people to the wall; thus, it leads to the rise in cases of depression.
The failure to address childhood trauma cases also makes individuals vulnerable to issues of mental health. According to the World Health Organization, Kenya ranks sixth among African countries as the state with the highest cases of depression which stands at about 2 million.
The COVID-19 menace and the introduction of control measures such as isolation exacerbated the situation since it did not only deny individuals the ability to seek financial resources for medical intervention but also locked them away from society’s eyes where they could quickly get assistance.
Devolution of health and healthcare services means that the 47 counties in Kenya get to initiate active participation in the fight against the mental health menace.
Many reports indicate that mental health issues continue to rise because the counties face the same challenges that the Ministry of Health of the National Government faced before devolution. Some of the challenges faced by the county government health sectors include the lack of mental health policy framework, understaffing of mental health practitioners, inadequate financing of mental health services and infrastructure such as beds. For example, studies revealed that the Kisumu County Referral Hospital (KCRH) had a 30-bed capacity for mental health-related issues. This number could barely serve the growing medical need of patients within Kisumu County.
With an appropriated budget of about KShs. 2 billion, Kisumu County seems still seems not able to manage the menace of mental health among many other rising health concerns.
While healthcare workers’ coordinated effort continues to bear fruits in both the national and county level health sectors, there still exists the need to incorporate the participation of stakeholders to steer the fight against the rise in mental health issues towards the right course.
The national government should roll out coordinated policy programs that ensure the focus remains on dealing with the problem and not the symptoms. This also includes the provision of adequate and accessible financial resources, the employment of sufficient and skilled health practitioners, and the creation of a responsive team to cater to Kenyans’ mental health needs. But most importantly, the efforts should ride on the rallying call,
“It is okay not to be okay,” to encourage people to come out and seek medical healthcare on mental health problems.
