There is a need for counties and the national government to put more effort into the management of mental health problems in order to avert more societal problems.
Deputy Executive Director Midrift Human Rights Network Mr Leonard Githae says there has been stigma associated with mental health problems, making many people suffer in silence.
He says it is for this reason that the Nakuru Based NGO has commenced training for enumerators who will carry out a baseline study on the mental health of Sexual Gender Based Violence survivors.
He faults the health systems in Kenya that mainly focuses on physical injuries treatment and failing to focus on mental health.
According to Mr Githae, the baseline study on the mental health of SGBV survivors will go a long way in addressing the challenges that psychologists and counsellors face in the management of mental health and create awareness that mental illnesses are as much health disorders as any other.
“In the case of SGBV, our health system focuses more on physical healing and forget about the mental health side and that is why we have this project so that we can start focusing on the mental health of the survivors,” said Githae.
The pilot project is targeting Slum areas of Nakuru Town West Sub-County as well as areas of Karagita in Naivasha Sub-County.
This is in line with the major project that Midrift spearheaded on urban crime prevention that also indicated the gap that despite urban crime prevention, the survivors are left with physical and mental scars that should be addressed.
“The enumerators that we are training will help us in gathering the data in issues of mental health that the SGBV survivors face in the slum areas,” said Githae.
Government statistics indicate that at least one in every four {1:4} Kenyans suffer from a mental illness at one point in their lives; this is about 11.5 million people.
To make matters worse, there are few psychiatrists, mental psychologists and counsellors trained to handle mental illness.
Githae adds that budgetary allocation for mental health is also very little thus leaving the mental equation completely overstretched.
“We have very few psychiatrists and even our budgetary allocation towards mental health is very little,” he said.
Similar sentiments were made by Ms Jessica Lampard- a Psychologist and researcher with the Danish Institute against Torture.
The Psychologist who is now training the enumerators for the pilot project in Nakuru says many people are yet to understand more on matters mental health hence stigma surrounding the whole issue.