Some mentally ill patients are highly intelligent and very productive – Peter Yaro

The Executive Director of Basic Needs-Ghana, Peter Badimak Yaro, has said that not all mentally ill patients are clueless.

According to him, although there is the perception that people who are mentally unstable do not know what they are about, he indicated that some are actually very smart.

Speaking in an interview with Citi FM and monitored by GhanaWeb, he said, “they behave abnormal but they are not stupid. Some of them are highly intelligent and very productive.”

He explained, “So we have to come to terms with the fact that not all ill-health condition makes the person become bedridden or have to lie down looking helpless. But some of them become too active or aggressive and should get the necessary help.”

On the issue of treatment, he said many Ghanaians resort to spiritual institutions like Churches to solve or heal affected persons.

He advocated that it is not the right move adding that, “We still live in a country where many people don't feel mental health issues should be treated in medical facilities and is rather a spiritual problem.”

Peter Badimak Yaro also encouraged the public to support such individuals through maximum attention and care to help them be stabilized.

“We cannot pretend to say we have erased stigma. There should be a shift in attitude and support.”

Meanwhile, the Chief Executive Officer of the Mental Health Authority, Dr. Akwasi Osei has revealed that a support fund set up by the authority for the society to contribute to the wellbeing of mentally challenged people in the country has been neglected for seven years.

Mental health stigmatisation has been rampant in the African and Ghanaian context with little to no attention or investment made towards curbing the disease.