Rwanda: Mental health disorder cases up by four-fold
Ndera Neuro-Psychiatric Teaching Hospital says it has recorded an increasing number of cases related to depression which has made the illness feature, for the first time, among the top five recorded mental illnesses.
The hospital says that since the beginning of this year, it has received 7,817 patients battling depression compared to 1,743 recorded last year. Majority of the new cases are middle aged people between the ages of 20 to 39 years of age.
Overall, 96,357 patients with mental disorders were recorded in the first eight months of this year, representing a 29.6 percent increase compared to last year, according to the data.
Speaking in Club de la Presse talk show; Director of Community Mental Health at Rwanda Biomedical Centre.Claire Nancy Misango said that a recent study showed that 1 in 5 people between the ages of 14-65 have a mental health problem. Some of the highlighted factors contributing to the high mental health cases include post-genocide trauma, violence, ignorance, drug addiction and poverty.
Mrs Eddyne UKUNZE pointed out that the IMBUTO FOUNDATION is concerned with this issue of mental health and seeks to contribute to the reduction of the mental health burden in Rwanda. She said that people have to understand that mental health illness is real and seek help.
“You should not normalize not feeling well or claim the illness to be a chronic condition from the family. Approach healthcare experts, they will analyze what the issue is,” Eddyne said.
She called on to people to always often check on each other and encourage those, suspected of any health issues, to approach authorities for medical help.
In her testimony, Anitha Mushimiyimana a mother of three lost her parents at the age of 8. After genocide against Tutsi, she was brought into foster family where she experienced torture until she suffered from trauma and depression.
When she arrived at school, the depression continued because she had no one to listen to her to discuss her problems. She says that later he approached experts for treatment, the doctors took care of her through counseling and medication she is now well and ha a happy family.
The audience recommendation was to RBC to provide counseling programs in transit centers and prisons because most of the inmates have depression problems.
Baho Neza-Mental Health is a three-year project by Imbuto Foundation, in partnership with the Ministry of Gender and Family promotion (MIGEPROF) and Rwanda Biomedical Centre (RBC) and will be piloted in 6 targeted Districts namely Nyamasheke, Nyaruguru, Nyagatare, Musanze, Bugesera, and Gasabo district, to contribute to reducing the mental health burden in Rwanda.