The History of Mental health in Nigeria dates to ancient times when traditional healing practices and spiritual beliefs were the primary approaches to mental illness. Simultaneously, Nigeria has a history of neglecting mental health, with little attention given to the issue and few resources allocated to mental health services. In Nigeria, a country with a population of around 181 million, over 60 million people (about twice the population of Texas) or approximately 30 percent of the population are believed to be affected by Mental illnesses says Taiwo Obindo, President of the Association of Psychiatrists in Nigeria. A survey revealed that Nigeria was ranked as the country with the highest prevalence of depression in Africa. Nigeria ranks 15th in the world for the frequency of suicide and There are less than 150 psychiatrists in the country of 200 million people.
The different forms of Mental Health Conditions include Anxiety disorders, Depression, PTSD, Eating Disorder, Schizophrenia, OCD, Personality Disorders, Dissociative Disorders, Paranoia, Impulse Control Disorder, Phobias, Mental illness, amongst others. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that a whopping 20% of Nigerians or around 40 million people (about twice the population of New York) are affected by mental health, this means one out of five persons in Nigeria is affected.
Following the KPMG ranking on the rising social and economic cost of major depression, Australia had a high burden percentage of 8.0 with an access to healthcare facility of 13.5, this is closely followed by China Mainland with 2.9% with an access of 2.2%, Hong Kong has 3.9% with an access of 4.5, Japan 2.3% with an access of 11.9, Korea 2.3% with an access of 5.8% and Taiwan has a 1.8% with a 7.5% access. These all point to the overbearing effect of Mental health challenges around the World with little access to healthcare.
According to the Association of Psychiatrists in Nigerians (APN) 2023, the most pressing issue with regards to mental health in Nigeria is the shortage of mental health professionals. Only about 200 psychiatrists and 1000 psychiatric nurses serve over 200 million people in Nigeria, whereas the standard practice is for one psychiatric doctor to care for 10,000 patients (about the seating capacity of Cameron basketball stadium at Duke University). Beyond psychiatrists, there is also a shortage of psychologists in the country. Psychologists are key professionals in providing services for people with mental conditions such as behavioral problems, learning difficulties, depression, and anxiety. Currently, there are only 319 licensed clinical psychologists that are registered with the Nigerian Association of Clinical Psychologists (NACP) which is estimated that there could be 400 - 500 clinical psychologists in Nigeria.
According to the needs assessment carried out by The Restored Heart Foundation, out of the 30 respondents: 30% of the respondents fell within the age range of 18-24 years, 60% were between the ages of 25-30, 6.7% were within the age range of 31-35 and the remaining 3.3% were from 35-40 years. All the respondents are Nigerians with 80% of them living in Nigeria and 20% living outside Nigeria. A larger percentage of the respondents live in Abuja, with others from Gombe, Kaduna, Akwa Ibom, Sokoto, Anambra, Bayelsa, Kogi, Kano, Imo, Lagos, Oyo, Ondo and Ogun.
We found out that out of the 30 respondents, 80% said they feel young people living in Nigeria are interested in mental health care, while 20% of the respondents said young people living in Nigeria are not interested in mental health care. When asked to give further reasons for their thoughts on why young people living in Nigeria are not interested in mental health care, the following were the responses given by the respondents: limited availability opportunities in mental health including job opportunities, being less concerned, lack of awareness on mental health, misconception of mental health problem meaning being mentally unstable and lack of interest to gain more knowledge on mental health. 20% of the respondents mentioned anxiety disorder as an issue they think young people suffer from in Nigeria, 40% mentioned depression, 30% mentioned emotional and behavioral Problems and 10% of respondents stated PTSD.
Overview
Goal
Objectives
Expected Outcomes
To commence the Mental Health First Aid Fellowship, A call for application will be out where fellows would be selected based on their motivation, their motivation would be measured by the motivation essays they write, Videos and track records from social media. Out of the 500 applications expected, 25 fellows would be selected through a thorough selection rubric. A curriculum with various modules has been designed to be used throughout the 6-month period, where classes would be held once a week, preferably on Friday evenings. There would be an onboarding session and an induction ceremony. For vivid learning during the fellowship, the facilitators would cascade learning using case studies, Individual and group assignments for bonding, videographic /PowerPoint slides for presentation. As a requirement to graduate, Fellows would embark on a change project and send reports from the change project. They will be sub granted and A project visit would be embarked upon, and A graduation ceremony and Certificates would be presented to close the fellowship.
High Level Activities
The Artisan Place, Plot 284 Cadastral Zone, Mabushi, Abuja