Over a year ago there was a news report from one of the Eastern European nations which chronicled the severe neglect of children who were mentally and physically handicapped . The conditions these children were left in were filthy and appalling . It was not fit for a dog , let alone a human being . It was an eye-opener . Most people don ’ t think such things still happen in Europe . Obviously , they are wrong . There are conditions which will always make a society , no matter how well developed or how rich , look poor in its actions to a particular group of people . Some may say , to each its own , as we are passionate about different issues until the very thing we paid selective blindness and deafness to finds a way to our doorstep . However , this article is not about mental health in Europe . It ’ s about mental health in Africa and how Africans generally view this issue .
Debul , craseman , kissi , craseyard , foolu-lu -- any of that sound familiar ? The issue of mental health is a subject many people don ’ t like to talk about , and most certainly not Africans . We don ’ t want to hear of it . We have found all sorts of coping mechanisms to explain it away , from labeling them as witches to devils to hiding them away in our homes . We as a culture are still grappling with what to do about those who are amongst the most vulnerable in our society . It is my opinion that we are aware of these things but make a conscious effort not to think about it because it is depressing or it is not our area of concern .
A little over a year ago in church , an all-African church , in the third row sat a little boy rocking back and forth and uttering nonsensical words . I recognized right away that he may have some sort of mental challenges but sadly most in the room did not . They were telling him to hush up , looking at him with disapproving stares as his mother sat next to him , helpless .
A cursory Google search will yield all sorts of unimaginable tales about the treatment of individuals who are mentally or physically challenged on the continent . It is said a society will be judged on the basis of how it treats its weakest and most vulnerable members , among them are the mentally ill and physically disabled . We are society , we are who make up the civilization hence , we all have our fair share of this burden to bear . If you disagree with me , then let me ask you , when was the last time you saw a man roaming the streets of Freetown or Makeni and cared ? You probably labeled them as just another “ mad man or woman .” And who knows , maybe you giggled a little because you felt their action of scratching all over or the way they talked to themselves or rummaged through the bin was funny . In fact , let ’ s go one step further . Some of us know of families who are talked about in our neighborhood with a son or a daughter that they hide away from public view for one reason or another . Some parents are simply afraid and ashamed of the name calling and being ostracized .
In Kenya 3 million people are living with intellectual and mental disabilities . It makes you wonder the total number of the population living in the same circumstances on the continent ? The statistics are heart wrenching to say the least . The World Health Organization ( WHO ) estimates about 14 percent of the total global disease burden could be attributed to mental , neurological and substance
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