60million Nigerians suffering from mental disorder – Expert

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More than 60 million Nigerians have various degrees of mental disorder, the Ogun State Commissioner for Health, Dr Babatunde Ipaye has revealed.

Unconfirmed figures puts the population of Nigeria at between 170 and 180 million and Ipaye, who spoke with journalists in Abeokuta, the state capital, further said 80 percent of people move from one

The commissioner said between 20 and 25 percent live with a full blown mental disorder in Nigeria adding that mental challenges go from simple minor mood disorder to extreme cases of mental accreditation.

According to him, one, out of every five Nigerian, has an extreme mental disorder just as he listed marital pressure, educational and economic pressure, expectations and disappointments as issues that could trigger minor mood disorder and finally leads to extreme mental illness.

Many Nigerians are currently facing some of these pressures with the number of divorce cases in court as well as issues of unemployment and an economic downturn.

He urged Nigerians to establish community mental homes to managed mental disorder at the grassroots level while the federal government would prioritise primary healthcare intervention for minor mood disorder.

Disappointments and pressure can cause mental illness Disappointments and pressure can cause mental illness Ipaye further urged Nigerians to go for regular psychotherapy checkup.

A medical consultant at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Dr Olumuyiwa Odunsote, corroborated Ipaye’s postulations, adding: “In Africa, the end stage of mental illness is when the person has gone out of control, which is what is seen as madness.

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