Medical Director urges FG to prohibit chaining in psychiatric, rehabilitation centres
Dr Biodun Ogungbo, Medical Director, Brain and Spinal Surgery Limited, has advised the Federal Government to ban chaining in state-owned rehabilitation, psychiatric hospitals, faith-based and traditional healing centers.
Ogungbo, who gave the advice in an interview with the Newsmen in Abuja, said that chaining in these centres should be urgently investigated.
He urged that investigation should be carried out in all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory to ascertain treatment of inmates in all the centres.
He quoted the Human Right Watch report, 2019 as stating that, “people with mental health conditions find themselves in chains in various places in Nigeria, subject to years of unimaginable hardship and abuse.”
“Mental health patients are placed in care facilities to have peace at home.
“People who are chained are forced to live in unsanitary conditions. Many eat, urinate, defecate, and sleep in the same place, usually within the same space where they are confined.
“A reform of the mental health law that is in keeping with international standards is urgently needed to drive change.
“People with mental health conditions should be supported and provided with effective services in their communities, not chained, used and abused,” Ogungbo said.
Ogungbo said that many are managed by sociopaths and charlatans due to the extreme shortage of trained mental health care practitioners, adding that potentially viable and good men and women were lost daily.
“Mental health is like any other issue and can become a sickness. It needs empathy and treatment as may be necessary. It is not a curse and the sufferers are not possessed.
“They are not agents of the devil. They are simply sick family members who deserve to be treated with love and compassion,’’ the medical director said.
He, therefore, called for more awareness among the population, adding that many are a danger to themselves more than to family members or the society at large.
Ogungbo said that government should also prioritise the development of quality, accessible, and affordable community-based mental health services.
He also suggested that government should provide jobs, social amenities, security and peace, saying it would reduce mental health issues in the country.
“People who have suffered mental stress and breakdowns are poorly diagnosed and poorly managed.
“The Nigerian public adds fuel to the raging fire inside the head of sufferers. There is little compassion or understanding of what people are going through. The management of mental illness is hellish.
“According to Global Health, Nigeria currently faces a global human rights emergency in mental health,’’ Ogungbo said.
He said that figures suggested that approximately 80 per cent of individuals with serious mental health needs in Nigeria could not access care.
He said that the figure was supported by poor societal attitudes toward mental illness and inadequate resources, facilities and mental health staff,
“We do not help tighten the screw. With fewer than 300 psychiatrists for a population of more than 200 million people most of who are based in urban areas.
“In view of poor knowledge of mental disorders at the primary health-care level, caring for people with mental illness is typically left to family members,” Ogungbo said.
He said that families meant well but they are not equipped to handle mental illness, and many make terrible mistakes.
“They send mental health sufferers out of the home. They throw them out due to stigma and societal pressure.
“Stigma and misunderstanding about mental health conditions, including the misperception that they are caused by evil spirits or supernatural forces, often prompt relatives to take their loved ones to religious or traditional healing places,” Ogungbo added.
