The number of people suffering from mental illness in Kilifi county has been on the rise, coinciding with the alarming rise in drug substance use among young adults.
As the county government and non-governmental organizations grapple to break the barriers on access to quality mental health services, the community has also been urged to report cases of mental illness to help the patients.
Speaking during launching of community scorecard on mental health service delivery at the Kilifi County Referral hospital Tuesday, Maureen Asembo, Health Rights Advocacy Forum (HERAF) coordinator in Kilifi reported that there is limited mental health education, thus the need to conduct many outreaches.
Asembo said that most people are still hiding patients with mental illness due to societal perceptions since they have not accepted the condition to be just like any other sickness.
She said that drug abuse is the major cause of mental illness in the region, according to the organization’s recent findings.
Kilifi County Referral Hospital Administrator Timothy Musau said that already each sub county hospital in Kilifi has mental health services to help patients with mental illness, but there is no particular ward including at the county hospital.
He posed it as a challenge saying that whenever patients are referred to the county hospital, they have to be taken to Portreiz Hospital in Mombasa.
Musau urged the community to cooperate in helping the patients by taking them to Portreiz hospital at the earliest opportunity they realize they have mental illness.
The administrator said that depression is leading among mental illnesses, adding that most cases are as a result of excessive drug abuse.
The administrator said the county is faced by a number of challenges in providing access to quality mental health services, including lack of cooperation from the community and few specialized doctors to handle the menace.
Monica Mwenda, Kisumu Ndogo village elder and community health worker said that parents and guardians of people with mental health illness suffer from stress and at times may want to leave the patients in the hospital after giving up.
According to Mwenda, the parents and guardians of mental patients needed to be educated about self-care and how to handle their kin.
She said that most cases of mental sickness in Kilifi have been occasioned by poor parenting, high cost of living and drug abuse.
Another community health worker, Nzingo Gohu supported Mwenda’s sentiments, while urging both the county and the national government to deal decisively with substance abuse so as to curb the escalating cases of mental cases in the region.