The World Health Organisation (WHO) has stated that 50 percent of the estimated 200 million migrants recorded by the International Organisation for Migration (10M) suffered from mental health problems. The problems ranged from chronic mental disorders, trauma, and distress. This was made known by the WHO Representative in Ghana, Dr Joachim Saweka, in a speech read on his behalf at the celebration of the World Mental Health Day in Accra on Wednesday on the theme: "Mental Health in Changing World: The Impact of Culture and Diversi¬ty". Dr Saweka said women and children represented more than 90 percent of these migrants which also included unaccompanied minors, orphans, child soldiers, women and girl survivors of torture and sexual violence. He said globally, an estimated 450 million people alive today suffered from mental or neurological disorders or from psycho-social problems such as those related to alcohol and drug abuse. According to Dr. Saweka, mental illness remained a major public health problem in every country, adding that the situation had been escalated by a number of factors, including wars, that had given rise to several thousands refugees and internally displaced persons often living under trying conditions. Dr Saweka said these conditions created urbanisation and its attendant slums and poverty, weakening social structures that made many unable to cope with life and several diseases that brought with them mental problems. “Many of them suffer silently, many of them suffer alone. Beyond the suffering and beyond the absence of care lies the frontiers of stigma, shame, exclusion and more than we care to know, death,” he said. Dr Saweka pointed out that major depression was now the leading cause of disability globally and ranked fourth among the 10 leading causes of global burden of diseases. He called for a change in cultural practices which negatively affected mentally ill people and cited the incident where such people were chained in humiliating conditions, adding that “others who need treatment are unable to access care because of certain beliefs.” He mentioned some strategies adopted by WHO to combat the problem, which included the reduction in human, social and economic burden produced by mental and neurological disorders. The acting Chief Psychiatrist of the Accra Psychiatrist Hospital, Dr Akwasi Osei, said while migration and cross-cultural practices might not be seen as a big issue in Ghana, they nevertheless influenced the mental state of Ghanaians even if subtly and went on to say how the recent flood had displaced some people in the northern parts of the country. He pointed out that the relationship between culture and mental health had long been recognised, adding that culture shaped and influenced mental health and mental illness in various ways. Dr Osei said mental health was about how people adapted and adjusted to stressful situations in their environment and also how they coped with every day life and found meaning in life. A Deputy Minister of Health, Dr (Mrs) Gladys Norley Ashitey, said the world was now a global village where people lived at places far from their towns and villages or even countries of birth and that some people had been forced to places by circumstances such as natural disasters and wars, and were therefore going through stress. She observed that mental illness was not appreciated in the Ghana¬ian society and because of that all kinds of interpretations were given to it, adding that “the important thing is for us to understand why people behave the way they do, so that we can appreciate and tolerate their behaviours and not get offended by them”. She touched on the government’s efforts at solving problems associated with mental health care and appealed to individuals and organisations to supplement such efforts. The Chairman for the function, who is also the Chairman for the National Commission for Culture, Professor George Hagan, advised Ghanaians not to get people with mental illness stigmatised since each person could be affected due to one situation or another. Source: Daily Graphic