Government should subsidize mental health treatment– Dr Adebayo

Dr Richard Adebayo is a consultant psychiatrist and a clinical psychologist in Federal Neuro-psychiatrist hospital, Yaba. In this interview with CHINWE AGBEZE, Dr Adebayo speaks on mental health disorders and preventive measures to adopt.

How common are mental disorders in the country?

At least up to 20-25% of any population in any country will have mental disorder at one stage or the other in their lifetime. It may not be so serious that they have to visit a place like psychiatric hospital Yaba. Millions of people suffer from depression but not all of them have to come to psychiatric hospital. Some can be managed by general practitioner.

At what point would you advise someone to see a psychiatrist?

Chronic insomnia over some months as a result of pondering over some issues, nightmares and been unduly suspicious for no apparent reason are indications that the individual needs to consult a psychiatrist to help the individual navigate during that turbulent period, it should not be taken for granted and treated as one of those things. The individual might be suffering from some emotional turmoil and seeing a psychiatrist is necessary so the problem does not snowball into a serious one.

How expensive is the treatment?

Relatively it’s not expensive but for those who have been out of job for long time or those whose family are not financially buoyant, it’s still an issue. There are some medications are not quite expensive, some are not too expensive and some are expensive especially modern drugs.

The best thing would have been for the government to subsidize or make it totally free especially for indigent Nigerians. Though some people will still find subsidized treatment unaffordable because they don’t have the money but the cost of seeking for care is still cheaper in Nigeria compared to other countries.

Are mental disorders hereditary?

Hereditary is a strong factor in the theology of mental disorder. Although it’s not all cases of mental disorder but for some major psychiatric disorders, hereditary play a significant role. Poor nutrition, high consumption of alcohol and smoking can bring an individual down with mental disorders. When this happens, it’s not hereditary. However, a lot of cases of mental disorders have their root cause with genetics.

A link is said to exist between nutrition and mental health. How true is that?

The physical health of an individual and the mental health are highly interwoven. What happens to the body affects the mind and what happens to the brain also affects the body. The brain needs some multivitamins especially the water-soluble vitamin B group to function well. An individual requires food items that are rich in those trace elements, minerals and multivitamins and even the protein which is necessary for body building. Lack of essential ingredients in the system will definitely affect the mental faculty which will prevent it from functioning properly.

If a child is not well nourished in the first year that the brain grows fastest, that child is more or less sentenced to a life of being a dullard. Cognitive and intellectual abilities will suffer. So at the early stage of life, proper nutrition is not just for the skin or physical body but also for the mental wellbeing.

What kind of foods will help?

For both mental and physical wellbeing, balanced diet is what we canvass for at every stage for an adult though it varies from one person to another depending on their age. For adults, they need to reduce their intake of proteins, fats and carbohydrates if they don’t want to put on much weight especially if they have genetic tendencies to put on so much weight. They should increase their intake of fruits and vegetables. From fruits and vegetables, they will get a lot of multivitamins, minerals and trace elements.

How about lifestyles?

What you take into your system as people will say, garbage in, garbage out. Late night eating should be avoided as one gets older because it affects the physical body and what affects the physical body eventually affects the brain. You need to watch what you eat, eat at the right time and do more exercise. Alcohol and energy drinks are not really good and one should not indulge in it because they are not good for the brain even soft drinks, drink more of water instead.