INCREASE IN MENTAL ILLNESS

That’s the word from South West Regional Health Authority (SWRHA) psychiatric/mental health services regional manager Pooran Sankar who said there has been an increase in mental illness nationally and internationally.

“We are well aware that mental illness is rising in the global burden of disease and, as I said in 1998, unipolar major depression was number five, in 2020 it is expected to be number two and in 2030 it is expected to be number 1,” Sankar said. “So generally, there is an increase in mental health illness. We are seeing 100 persons coming into our departments for mental health services. This is a normal thing that is happening but we are responding and making a difference in terms of treatment.

“The major mental health issue is depression and unipolar major depression. One in four people will require mental health services at some point in their lives.” Asked whether this was local statistics, he said “This is an international World Health Organisation issue, so the research is coming from them.” The Global Burden of Disease study is the most comprehensive worldwide observational epidemiological study which describes mortality and morbidity from major diseases, injuries and risk factors to health at global, national and regional levels.

Sankar was speaking with reporters after the launch of the TT Association for the Improvement of Mental Health at the San Fernando Hill Conference Centre yesterday.

Meanwhile SWRHA acting chief executive officer Gail Miller Meade described the challenge of dealing with mental health issues as a worldwide phenomenon.

“Around the world, the challenge of dealing with mental health issues is growing,” she said, and cited a recent study published in the Daily Telegraph which indicated that some 38 percent or 165 million Europeans suffer from depression, anxiety, insomnia, dementia or other mental and neurological illnesses.

Sankar said the association would also attempt to “heighten the level of awareness and to ensure that people are well aware that if, perchance, there is abnormal behaviour, help is available and there is treatment available.” “We are going to represent their interests. For example, we had a number of our patients who were shot. We haven’t heard many voices, not that we are blaming anybody, but the fact is we have to be more aware of what is happening in this society and how best to deal with these volatile situations,” he said.

In a moving testimonial, former secondary school teacher Caron Asgarali recounted her struggles with depression after having survived being shot in her face, chest and shoulder in an attempted robbery in 2013. She said the first nine months after the incident, she had focused on her physical healing but found she needed professional help for her mental healing.

“I went to the NIS and I had to answer a question and, there and then, in the middle of a public building, I started to cry. And if you know me, I am not a person who is easily moved to tears.” Asgarali said she was diagnosed as suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder but, with professional help, was able to deal with the illness.