Let’s focus on the mental state of our youth!

This week we saw another sad story in local news where a young man who is a patient at the Mt Gay Psychiatric Hospital, escaped and was found swimming in the sea near the Saint George’s Fish Market. From what was shown, we must congratulate the police for the patience and understanding in getting him back to the hospital where his treatment will continue. It was even revealed that an officer swam with him for quite a while until he was gently held and put into a boat. Officers you did a great job from what was shown in the news. Take a bow!

However, as the man seems to be fairly young, therein lies great concern about the mental state of our young people who are growing up in a time where illegal substances are readily available even in the parents’ home. We also had reports of such substances being sold in school and students being brought to court. There was a time when that would be unheard of; parents and teachers would not have stood for it.  In reference to parenting, a police officer revealed on GBN that he got some ‘real licks’ for which he is grateful for. He attributes his parents’ firmness in his upbringing to the successful man he has grown to be.

But sadly, there seems to be some interference and confusion in the role of parents today when it comes to correction and abuse. There are those of us who are still alive that can remember the strokes we got in school as we were urged to ‘straighten up and fly right.’ Oh how different the system was then. Principals were proud of their students in and out of school. Today they are asking them to simply remove their ties which associate them to a certain school.

The predominant illness on admission to Mt Gay Hospital continues to be schizophrenia and we are observing that the ages can be very low. In checking at least four sources online we found out that it is a mental condition that can lead to hallucinations, delusions and very disordered thinking and behaviour.

Maybe what we need at this time is collective prayers for the return of the Pied Piper to save our children!

Sometime ago, the Government made a commitment to improving mental health services as part of the millennium development goal objective. The focus continues on treatment. But isn’t it time that we see some proactive measures playing out in society? Why did it take so long to replace the Mental Health Act of 1958 with a new Mental Health Bill?  We have heard of plans for the integration of mental health services into primary health care.

We recall information on-line from Minister Steele from the New National Party, which stated that the government then had accepted the fact that HEALTH is much more than the prevention or reduction of disease. It is a resource for national productivity and development. As such, investments in ensuring a healthy population is an asset for national development. The Minister said that it is for this reason the Government had re-affirmed its strong commitment to providing better health care to all Grenadians. The National Strategic Plan for Health 2016-2025 provided the framework to guide the efforts of the Ministry of Health and Social Security and its partners over the next ten years. It reflected the Ministry’s fundamental belief that health is a basic human right.

He continued that consequently, one of the overarching goals of this strategic plan was to ensure that health services are made available, accessible and affordable to all people without discrimination. But, he admitted, that like many other developing countries, Grenada continues to be challenged by meeting the demands for health care services to its citizens. To this end, they had set out major priorities and therefore in concert with the private sector, heighten the focus and continue the promotion of health and wellness among our citizens. Isn’t that very good news?

Today Honourable Delma Thomas is in the driver’s seat when it comes to treatment for psychiatrically ill patients which is her ‘pet subject’. From the start she noted that the Mt Gay Psychiatric Hospital had a shortage of beds which she has since corrected. But what should have been a temporary situation with the relocation of the acute psychiatric unit (Rathdune) from General Hospital to Mt Gay -continues. oc. In a country where drugs and alcohol are readily available, the Drug Rehabilitation Centre (Carlton House) formerly located at Parade, was severely damaged by Hurricane Ivan in 2004 and subsequently destroyed by fire in 2005 and despite efforts by the private sector to raise funds, all we keep hearing is about plans to rebuild it at Mirabeau. Currently, a day service is provided at Mt Gay; but, research has shown that participation in that programme for substance abusers is hindered by fear of stigma and discrimination.

So, let’s see how long it will take the government to really see that -prevention is better than cure! Putting more beds is a telling sign that the problem is expected to grow. There is definitely the need for programmes on substance abuse prevention; the absence of a facility for treatment of substance abuse is long over-due; we have also heard of a lack of specialist staff – occupational therapist, psychologists and other support staff to assist in the rehabilitation of our citizens.

We end by asking just who pays attention to the well-researched statistics from the Drug Avoidance Committee?

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