Guys, have you ever asked yourself questions concerning the livelihood and lifestyles of people with mental illness or the so called “psychiatric patients”? No I don’t think you have ever thought of that and so I have taken up the mantle to enlighten you on how they live their lives since I have been a witness to that. First of all, someone may ask, what are mental illnesses?
To satisfy your curiosity, Mental illnesses according to the American Psychiatric Association (APA) are health conditions involving changes in emotion, thinking or behavior (or a combination of these). Mental illnesses are associated with distress and/or problems functioning in social, work or family activities. Mental illnesses are nothing to be ashamed of, it is a medical problem just like heart disease, respiratory disease and diabetes etc.
Mental illnesses do not discriminate, it can affect any one regardless of your position or rank in society. These mental disorders can sometimes be tender and others can be so severe that the victim may need care in a hospital to keep it under control. People with mental illnesses are classified in the Ghanaian society as mad, hopeless and aimless people but I totally go against this perception and view.
Based on my experience, mentally diseased people are human beings just like us whose rights are inalienable and cannot be taken away from them. It is not their fault to decide that they want to be mentally ill but that’s what fate has brought to them. Every one has a defect in his or her life and I think to the mentally diseased people that’s their defect. These people are sometimes subjected to all forms of acts which make them inferior in society and they are also sometimes discriminated against. Stigmatization is another factor that mentally diseased people suffer. Due to their condition, people fail to go close to them with the idea that they (the mentally diseased people) might harm them. Mentally diseased people live a simple life, have aims and aspirations in life and can easily be understood as every normal being.
Even though they sometimes get angry for no reason, what you have to do is to convince and sweet talk them to put their heart to rest. Exerting coercive force on mentally diseased patients and going against their wishes could worsen their situation. It pains me to see these people maltreated and subjected to inhumane acts. Just put yourself into their shoes and imagine that if you were to be in their situation what would you have done and what would have been your fate. I stand for the rights, liberty, integrity, and welfare of this vulnerable fellows whose destinies have got to change due to their health situation.
THE LIVES OF THE MENTALLY DISEASED ALSO MATTER.
Andy Oppong Dankyi 