These sort of discussions are all too common and simply reflect the widely held perceptions in our community about mental illness. But is it only those who smoke weed or take hard drugs that can suffer from mental illness? Could it be that mental illnesses are caused by spiritual attacks and they can never be cured? Are the popular movie portrayals (such as in Nollywood) which depict mental illness as untreatable conditions in hospitals that need to be referred to trado-spiritual healers factual?
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Such misconceptions largely arise from the very poor understanding of the nature of mental illness and the strangeness of it all. This is further compounded by the secrecy, shame and embarrassment that often accompanies mental health challenges, which prevents open discussions, as the problems are only discussed in hushed tones and the use of innuendoes.
In reality, our thoughts, feelings, emotions and behaviour are simply a function of certain chemicals in our brains. Thus, when we feel happy or sad; when we think about a problem and are able to arrive at a solution or make up our minds about what to do; when we want to remember something and we think hard and suddenly remember it – we are simply using our brains and certain chemicals are working hard to allow us perform these functions.
Thus when there are abnormal changes in the levels of these brain chemicals, it affects the thinking processes, the feelings of happiness or sadness (emotions), memory, judgement and behaviour of the affected person.
Mental health challenges often arise from a change in the level of these brain chemicals and can be correctly identified, and treated with the help of drugs that correct the level of the abnormality and restore normal balance. Once this is restored, such individuals recover fully and can live their normal lives. However, in some cases, they will also need to continue taking their drugs in order to ensure that the levels of the affected chemicals remain normal. They will also benefit from regular clinic attendance for follow-up reviews by the psychiatrist.