Pay attention to mental health care – NGO to gov’t

An appeal has been made to the government to focus its attention on mental health care.

Madam Ruth Okyere of the Mind Freedom Ghana, an NGO committed to mental health issues, said there should be adequate budgetary allocation for that.

This, she noted, had become necessary in the wake of recent suicide cases in the country.

She called for an end to stigmatization of the mentally ill, saying, they should be shown love and be given more support.

Madam Okyere, who was speaking at a day's seminar organized by the Ghana Federation of the Physically Disabled, underlined the need for all to be on the alert, and to act quickly to assist people who showed suicidal tendencies.

These include social isolation, sudden change in behavior, constant talk about death and carrying of dangerous weapons.

When people start willing out their property, it could also be a sign of yearning to commit suicide, she added.

Madam Okyere identified mental illness, psychiatric disorders, poor impulse control, problem with decision making, lack of acceptance and stigma as some of the factors that could lead people to take their own lives.

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