Three Main Causes of Mental Health Problems in Kenya
Disaster Mental Health specialist Dr. Lukoye Atwoli has named the poor economy as one of the main causes of mental health problems that Kenyans are currently facing.
KHISA CJ
Dr. Lukoye notes that economic hardships occasioned by the Covid-19 pandemic are likely to accelerate cases of suicide, depression, substance abuse, and severe mental health issues among Kenyans.
“If the economy is doing poorly and the common mwananchi cannot get food because there is no money, it is likely to cause mental health issues,” noted the Dean at Aga Khan University Medical College, East Africa.
He also named environmental pollution as another cause of mental health problems.
Dr. Lukoye points out that “research has revealed that people who live in populated places are more likely to have mental health problems.”
The Health system is another cause of mental health problems, especially if it is weak and poor as it cannot be able to handle mental health issues.
The Mental Health specialist now wants the government to invest heavily in the area that will include the facilitation of research to be conducted on identifying the problems and track them over time.
“Put more money in mental health. Fund mental health a lot. We need to track issues to do with suicide, depression, substance abuse, and severe mental health the way we track child mortality and maternal mortality so that we can also track mental health indicators effectively,” Dr. Lukoye said.
