Mental illness: Everyone is at risk, so let's treat patients respectfully - Expert cautions

Dr. (Mrs.) Grace Owusu Aboagye, a Clinical Specialist Pharmacist and the CEO of Refresh-Rx Foundation, has educated Ghanaians on the importance of showing mental health patients compassion and love.

According to her, everyone on the planet is a step closer to developing a mental illness, which is why affected people should not be ignored.

On Saturday, October 15, Dr. (Mrs.) Owusu Aboagye delivered a speech titled "I am not my mental illness and my mental illness is not me" as a guest speaker at a mental health fair organised by three Rotary Clubs, namely the Rotary Clubs of Accra Morning-Tide, Accra West, and the Rotaract Club of Accra Adabraka at the Pantang hospital helping to uplift the face of its occupational therapy unit.

"Today, I join Rotary to send out two messages to all Ghanaians and the global community at large. First of all, a person experiencing mental illness is not a mental illness, just as the injuries of Usain Bolt do not change him into an injury. Neither Christiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, nor Serena Williams. The sports industry has evolved to overcome every challenge possible to keep on thriving.

"We all here can do the same for mental health. I will encourage all to search for the person within when interacting with a person with lived experience of mental illness. Make it your heart's desire to nurture, build, support, encourage, and enlighten the individual. “I am not my mental illness," she reiterated.

She emphasized, "When stress and physical illnesses like hypertension and diabetes disturb the beautiful rhythm of our brain and body, we end up with mental illness. One in two people who develop hypertension or diabetes will go on to develop depression and other mental disorders. We are all at risk.

According to her, "the good news is that the brain can regenerate itself to alter its functions and behaviour."

In furtherance, she told people living with mental illness, their relatives, and all Ghanaians that "symptoms of poor mental health should not take over your life or that of loved ones. The goal of treatment is not to silence the person or keep him or her locked up but to return the person to occupational and social functioning."

Bringing her speech to an end, she shared with the gathering the real-life story of a renowned mathematician, Dr. John Forbes Nash Jr., who, despite having mental health challenges, won the Nobel Prize twice in his lifetime (1994 and 2015) due to the love and care shown him by his wife and relatives, and rejuvenated her call for good treatment of mental health patients, for they can be very useful to society's growth.