Dr.Shaun Collins a Psychiatrist who recently undertook a small scale survey on mental health in the Bombali and Koinadugu districts has revealed that over 2000 people were discovered with mental illnesses in the two districts.
The survey was conducted by the Fatima Institute in Makeni in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Sanitation with funds provided by the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD).
Speaking at the Mamba Point guest house at Wilberforce yesterday, Dr Collins disclosed that the common mental problem they found out during the survey were psychosis, Depression, post war trauma, stress and mental disorder.
The Fatima Institute has already designed a curriculum to undertake a psychiatric trainining program on Mental Health, Behavioral change and social inclusion for the very first time in the history of war torn Sierra Leone.
Presenting the courses in the curriculum, Dr.Collins intimated the gathering that the institute intends to train young people within the ages of 18 to 25 years. Some of the courses include Psychology, Drug and Alcohol Abuse, Stigmatization, Societal Isolation, training on signs and symptoms of mental illness and how to work with vulnerable people in the community.
Dr. Collins said that such training will help to develop sustainable mental health sensitization in the two districts.
Sierra Leone’s most renowned psychiatrist,Dr, Nahim thanked the Fatima Institute for undertaking such a venture to save the thousands of Sierra Leoneans suffering from mental problems of various kind. He stated that mental health is a very serious problem in Sierra Leone and it is therefore necessary to undertake a survey of people with mental insanity not only in the two districts but in the entire country.
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