Mental health is a national emergency

The Covid-19 pandemic has exerted a considerable adverse impact on the economy. Battling with the coronavirus has not been easy and predicting when it will end is very difficult due to emerging seasonal waves.

Discovery of vaccines has, however, brought some hope even though the doses are not enough to serve the entire population.

The biggest worry now is the resultant mental health. The World Health Organisation (WHO) says the public mental health impact has been in form of stress and anxiety and predicts the rise in depression and suicide in years to come. Many people have lost their jobs, crime has increased and all forms of femicide, especially intimate femicide, and homicide have increased.

There are students who became pregnant during the 10-month school closure and those whose parents couldn’t afford virtual learning or home-based tuition, and they didn’t do well in the national examinations. Yet there are those whose parents died of Covid-19 or who feel isolated due to family separation. They go through mental disorders that most can’t cope with.

Stress

Putting food on the family table without a stable income becomes very demanding and difficult. Some parents got into financial arguments and stress on how to balance daily little income that led to domestic violence which some led to homicide or separation. Some were not able to pay rent on time and were forced to travel home to seek cheaper and affordable lifestyles.

Chronic problem of mental health in the country has been allocated less than 0.5 per cent in the annual budget consistently over 10 years. The government should increase this to help train more psychiatrists since there are only 100.

Over 1.9 million Kenyans are depressed. It is therefore important for each and every individual to look after their friends, family members, relatives or even workmates. This may make them free to share their problems.