Vanguard Mental Health Summit 3.0: Nigeria losing young people to suicide as mental health law stalls, psychiatrists, advocates warn

… Link surge to depression, poverty, biology stress, familial vulnerabilities.

By Sola Ogundipe & Chioma Obinna

Nigeria’s termination situation is worsening arsenic psychiatrists and advocates nexus rising deaths among youths to untreated depression, poverty, and argumentation neglect. At the Vanguard Mental Health Summit 3.0, experts faulted the government’s nonaccomplishment to instrumentality the 2022 Mental Health Act, informing that inaction is costing lives each day.

Noting that 3 years aft Nigeria signed the long-awaited Mental Health Act into law, the stakeholders warned that government’s inaction is worsening the country’s termination crisis, present fuelled by untreated depression, poverty, biology stress, and familial vulnerabilities.

The informing came during the sheet discussions astatine the good attended forum held successful Lagos nether the taxable “Stemming the Rising Tide of Suicide successful Nigeria” and the sub-theme “Substance and Silence: Unmasking the Dual Crisis of Addiction and Suicide.”

The lawsuit brought unneurotic psychiatrists, policymakers, advocates, journalists, and improvement partners successful a unified telephone for urgent implementation of the Mental Health Act and stronger nationalist effect systems.

 “Mental wellness is not a luxury—it’s a necessity”

In his invited address, Eze Anaba, the Editor of Vanguard Newspapers, said the acme was conceived to make a level for dialog and applicable solutions astir intelligence health—a ngo that has grown stronger since its inception successful 2021.

“When we convened the archetypal variation of this summit, our extremity was clear: to make a abstraction wherever experts, policymakers, and mundane Nigerians could travel unneurotic to face the stigma surrounding intelligence wellness and illustration applicable solutions for a healthier, much compassionate society,” Anaba said.

He noted that worsening economical hardship is deepening the nation’s intelligence wellness burden. “Just past week, the World Bank reported that astir 139 cardinal Nigerians are present surviving successful poverty—an summation of 9 cardinal from erstwhile figures. This harsh economical world inevitably pushes much radical to the edge, and sadly, for some, it whitethorn pb to the achy decision that beingness is nary longer worthy living,” helium said.

Anaba condemned the continued criminalisation of attempted termination successful Nigeria, describing it arsenic “a motivation nonaccomplishment that punishes the unfortunate alternatively of addressing the cause.” He urged policymakers to fast-track the measure presently earlier the National Assembly that seeks to decriminalise suicide.

“At Vanguard, we judge journalism is not conscionable astir reporting events but astir driving societal change,” helium added. “Mental wellness is not a luxury—it is simply a necessity. When we put successful intelligence health, we put successful the spot of our radical and the aboriginal of our nation.”

Experts nexus termination to genetics, environment, and argumentation neglect

In however submission, Prof. Taiwo Sheikh, a starring psychiatrist and erstwhile President of the Association of Psychiatrists successful Nigeria (APN), explained that termination is not simply a societal occupation but a biologic and biology one.

“Everything—including our propensity to instrumentality our ain lives—has a biologic basis,” helium said. “It’s astir however our brains are wired and the benignant of neurotransmitters we nutrient astatine a peculiar constituent successful time. But portion genetics find vulnerability, it’s the situation that decides who breaks.”

Sheikh said the country’s rising termination complaint among young radical reflects the combined effects of economical hardship, trauma, and systemic neglect. “Our youths are nether changeless pressure—joblessness, insecurity, substance abuse, and hopelessness. These are potent triggers,” helium said.

He warned against over-reliance connected carnal prevention measures specified arsenic span barriers oregon bans connected pesticides, stressing that they bash not code the basal of the problem. “You tin region entree to the span oregon restrict pesticides, but if you don’t halt the affectional thought, radical volition find different means,” Sheikh said. “We indispensable woody with the symptom that drives the act, not conscionable the tools used.”

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