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At least one in four patients seeking medical services at the Murang’a county referral hospital are suffering from mental illness. Mbuthia Wagoki, the lead psychiatrist at the county hospital said they are receiving at least 50 cases in a day and the ward to hold these patients is already overwhelmed as it only has a bed capacity of 20.

Wagoki said this is a high number and called for concerted efforts to address it before things get out of hand. He also noted that suicide cases in the area are on the rise, a majority of them being men.

“Cases of depression and schizophrenia are also on the rise but those affected mostly don’t know their condition until a medical assessment is done,” he said.

He said alcohol, drug abuse and financial constraints are some of the contributing factors that have led to the increased cases of mental illness among the youth.

Youth focus

Mbuthia revealed that medical experts have now started an outreach campaign using community health promoters to offer psychotherapy services.

“We want to start tackling this issue from the grassroots and only have those with serious cases come to the facility,” he said, noting that they also had counselling services as part of the early intervention strategy for patients.

Peter Kamau, a mental wellness champion, urged the government to shift its focus on mental illness and find ways to address it.

He noted that the majority of those affected are the youth who are at their prime, and it should be a major concern for the government. He added that both the county and national government should come up with income-generating programmes for the youth to keep them busy.