Govt Neglect Of Psychologists Fuelling Mental Health Challenges – Expert

An Associate Professor successful the Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, University of Lagos, Dr Charles Umeh, has warned that Nigeria’s nonaccomplishment to recognise and enactment objective psychologists is worsening the country’s increasing intelligence wellness crisis, leaving millions without aboriginal involution oregon due care.

Despite a colonisation of much than 200 million, Dr. Umeh, who is besides a Consultant Clinical Psychologist astatine LUTH said Nigeria has less than 500 objective psychologists, an alarming shortage that threatens nationalist intelligence wellness stability.

“Clinical psychologists are the gateway to intelligence wellness intervention. They grip the aboriginal signs of affectional oregon behavioral problems earlier they go severe. But authorities policies and nationalist consciousness proceed to place their importance,” helium said.

He lamented that portion psychiatrists often be to precocious intelligence disorders, objective psychologists are meant to intervene astatine the instauration level,  identifying and addressing the insignificant conditions that could different turn into chronic intelligence illness.

“The strategy has ignored prevention. When we neglect to fortify the relation of psychologists, we extremity up with much radical requiring psychiatric care,  and by then, it’s often excessively late,” helium said.

The intelligence wellness adept linked the increasing question of substance maltreatment among young radical to the lack of structured intelligence enactment and mediocre household supervision. Findings from caller studies, helium revealed, amusement that cause usage is present communal among secondary and adjacent superior schoolhouse students.

“What’s adjacent much disturbing, is that parents and communities are looking away. These children travel from homes, and quality gathering starts there.

We are raising a procreation exposed to drugs and affectional neglect,” helium added.

He described the inclination arsenic a “silent epidemic” spreading from cities to agrarian areas, with cannabis and intoxicant usage becoming normalised successful galore communities.

“Substance usage is nary longer an municipality issue, it’s everyplace now. If urgent steps are not taken to empower psychologists and integrate intelligence wellness attraction into schools and superior wellness centers, we hazard a nationwide crisis,” helium warned.

He called connected authorities and policymakers to prioritise the recruitment of objective psychologists, make structured intelligence wellness programmes successful schools, and beforehand family-based interventions to curb the escalating trend.