Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Mental Health Authority has advised the public to desist from getting carried away and spending more than they can afford to during the upcoming festive season.

Dr Kwasi Osei says many feel pressured and tend to “over-spend” forgetting that reality beyond the celebration awaits.

“Remember that you will now come back to reality and then if you had to incur or spend all your money, the reality dawns on you.”

“These festive occasions will come and go. Don’t let them push into stress and depression. Tell yourself that I will spend within my means. If I have, thank God, I will spend, if I don’t have, that’s okay.”

He was speaking at the 9^th Annual Psychiatry debate where students from six universities across the country debated on the topic, “Mental illness or physical illness, which of the two costs society more?”

At the end of the heated debate, Dr Kwasi Osei announced that out of 12 debaters, the participant from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) with 93.2% came first, winning a one-month internship at the Saint Patrich Health University in Ireland.

President of the Accra College of Medicine, Professor Afua Hersey, remained hopeful of a stronger outcome for the Accra College of Medicine in subsequent years, considering they were informed of the debate one week prior to it, as opposed to the other schools which had 3 months to prepare.

”We’re very encouraged. Next year, we are coming out in fuller force and we’ll definitely claim our place in the gold medical schools,” he said.