Dr. Edward Nahim, Sierra Leone's sole psychiatrist says: "Psychiatry is not a popular branch of medicine anywhere in the world". #InTheMind
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He says "It's not lucrative in Sierra Leone, and patients are very poor, so the young medical students stay away from psychiatry"
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Dr. Nahim: "There are around 600 thousand patients in need of psychiatric help in Sierra Leone, but few seek medical help".
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Dr. Nahim: "Most of the patients seek treatment from traditional heals, "juju" healers or seek religious guidance"
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Dr. Nahim: "In Sierra Leone, we often see those suffering from bi-polar, schizophrenia, drug abuse and depression in men"
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Dr. Nahim: "In Sierra Leone, we also see a lot of people suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PSTD) from the war".
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Dr. Nahim: "We see that people living with depression, mental health often face exclusion, stigmatisation and discrimination"
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Something one of our guests, Nelson Ojo Anweli in
#Uganda could relate to. He shared experience after suffering from depression#InTheMind -
Nelson: "I became depressed after losing my wife. Soon after I lost my job, and was also diagnosed with HIV".
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Nelson: "I went through a hard time. I couldn't sleep, my mood was low. I withdrew from friends and neighbours".
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Nelson: "At one time I wanted to commit suicide".
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Bassey Ikpi, a Nigerian-Am. mental health advocate, living with bi-polar disorder: "Language is very important when talking about illness"
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Bassey: "Because religion is a big part of Nigerian culture, most people think that mental illness is a spiritual or due to lack of faith"
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Bassey: "This prevents people who need help from getting help"
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Bassey: "When people try and seek help, they are told they're not faithful enough or someone is doing juju on them. It makes it difficult"
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Bassey: "when I first opened up about my illness, I encountered a lot of stigma"
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Bassey: "For the first time since being diagnosed 10 years ago, I felt ashamed, and felt I needed to keep it quiet"
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Dr.
@ethelmpungu: "Circumstances such as extreme poverty and wars increase the risk to develop mental health problems"#InTheMind -
Dr.
@ethelmpungu: "We don't pay attention to early signs/symptoms of mental illness, these go undetected, therefore no early intervention" - 1 more reply
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