Set up psychiatric centres

In the recent past, mental illnesses have been wreaking havoc across communities the world over. The media have been replete with reports on suicides, macabre murders, homicides and femicide cases exacerbated by the raging disaster of depression.

Kenya was recently ranked fifth among African countries wallowing in this quagmire. This ugly monster has snatched doctors, teachers, businesspersons, police officers, pastors and even children, leaving communities on tenterhooks. Despite the pain and anguish, our country lacks appropriate policy responses.

 The government must not relent in its fiduciary duty of ensuring the wellness of the citizenry. The Ministry of Health should be allocated a separate budget to specifically cater for mental health. This should go into revamping the existing and building new psychiatric centres across the country. The devolved units must also chip into this noble initiative.

 The Ministry of Education should strengthen mentorship, counselling and life skills coaching in schools. This would enable school-going teens to cope with the realities of life. This also calls for training of all tutors, parents, guardians and other caregivers to enable them to navigate a paradigm shift from traditional norms to modern parenting. Most teens are more tech-savvy than their parents, meaning there is little or no guidance on how to use new technology.

Ignorance has led to insensitivity towards people with mental illnesses. Many regard mental illness as a spiritual problem.

 These retrogressive beliefs must be shunned as they are not helpful at all. Mentally ill persons continue to suffer in silence.

We must all put in concerted efforts to slay this dragon. County governments, the Health, Education, Labour and Social Protection, Youth and Gender Affairs ministries should form a multi-sectoral team to formulate policies to mitigate mental illnesses among Kenyans.

Mr Mwirichia is a high school teacher; [email protected]