We are getting madder

If you can close your ears and your eyes to the wretched noises of the politicians for a minute, please listen to this. Nigerians are losing their minds. The Daily Trust of October 11 quoted the provost/medical director of the famous Aro psychiatrist hospital, Abeokuta, Ogun State, Dr Timothy Adewale, as saying that the hospital admits 250-300 mental patients every month.

It is a frightful and disturbing figure if you relate it to the possibility that but for the grace of God, these men and women could be wearing rags, talking to themselves and picking up rotten pieces of anything that comes handy along the streets of our towns and cities. And frightening the hell out of the rest of us.

I do not know for how long this has been going on. But it could not have been since yesterday. My guess is that the provost made this information public because he must be worried, as indeed he should, by the steady rise in the number of mental cases in the country. Aro is not the only psychiatric hospital in the land. I am sure that the other hospitals too have some grim figures of those who have lost it temporarily or permanently.

Should we, as a nation, be worried about this? Yes. None of us today can comprehend the huge range of mental or neurological disorders lurking around the corner, waiting for the right moment to strike. According to the World Health Organisation, WHO, about 450 million people suffer from various forms of mental disorders, thus “placing mental disorders among the leading causes of ill-health and disability worldwide.” WHO estimates that one in four people would be “affected by mental or neurological disorders at some point in their lives.”

It should worry you, brother. We are all potential patients at Aro. But not all mental disorders are psychotic. So, some of us may escape Aro. However, here, we do not know the difference between mental and neurological disorders that do and do not qualify psychotic. Traditionally, we simply conclude that anyone with a mental or neurological disorder is mad. Madness carries a huge social stigma. In the eyes of the public, those so stigmatised, never live normal lives in their communities again. People fear them. Their simple mistakes are exaggerated as evidence that “the thing never finish o.”

Mental illness is brought on by a variety of causes. Psychosis runs in some families. Anyone in such families who carries the strain can expect to experience a mental break down at some point in his or her life. Many cases of mental break down are brought on by the stresses of life and living in an increasingly competitive professional and business environment. But the most worrisome social problem associated with mental break down is a living style that leads to a total dependence on substance abuse.

WHO points out that “nearly two-thirds of people with a known mental or neurological disorder never seek help from a health professional” for fear of being stigmatised. Still, such people are potentially dangerous to themselves, their families and the public. A mental or neurological break down is a serious personal and social problem.

The bad news is that our own dear country, Nigeria, is one of the ten countries rated by US News as being on the brink. In its issue of October 10, the paper published the list of the ten most depressed countries in the world. Nigeria takes the number eight position, one step ahead of its rival in the world corruption index, Bangladesh. China leads the pack. Here is how they stand: China, India, the United States of America, Brazil, Russia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Nigeria, Bangladesh and Mexico.

Who rates India, China and the US “as the most affected by anxiety, schizophrenia and bipolar disorders.” Nigeria made the grade in three categories: anxiety, depression and alcohol/drug abuse. Substance abuse is a grave danger to our country today. In the past we had a long struggle with what was once labelled Illicit gin – the very potent home brew that goes by such lovely names as ogogoro, 404 and akpeteshi. Nor should we forget we-we, also known as Indian hemp. The Obasanjo/Murtala administration decriminalised them in 1975 and harried policemen lost a dependable source of bribery from the brewers and the sellers.

Our young men and women and their counterparts in other countries think it is cool to abuse alcohol and other dangerous substances now available to them virtually over the counter. They offer a good excuse for it. They need to get high. They do get high, very high indeed, to gather the animal courage to commit heinous crimes such as armed robberies, kidnappings and murders. Young men seeking to get higher than others boil Indian hemp and mix it with ogogoro. The potent brew is called monkey tail.

Some stronger drugs make ogogoro almost a normal substance abuse. Cocaine is one of the stronger stuff. It is an expensive and fancy substance beloved by the rich and their spoilt brats. The problem here and in other developing countries that have carelessly allowed their youths to succumb to drug and substance abuse is that cheap but very dangerous drugs are available to the poor around the country. Parts of the northern states are seriously affected by this. The senate once held a public hearing on it in Kano, one of the worst affected states in the north, to draw public attention to the new threat to the health and the future of our youths. We have been sleeping on it. I see no federal or state government policy on tackling this huge social problem.

Tackling drug abuse is a complicated problem. Nigeria was once a very lucrative route for global drug trafficking. Tens of Nigerians made fortunes from this admittedly attractive and lucrative trade in cocaine as drug barons and mules. Perhaps the current level of mental illnesses reflects a collateral damage. And perhaps because of this, some people have repeatedly suggested that those who seek elective offices should undergo psychiatric examination to ascertain their mental health.

You have to deal with the sellers and the consumers. This has never been easy. But no country can afford to offer that as an excuse to do nothing. Our country is traditionally tardy in such matters, usually preferring to take comfort in slumber. Do we really need to be persuaded that weaning our youths from substance abuse is a huge challenge that cannot wait for ever to be taken up by the government and the people? We are mad enough as it is. We need not get madder.