Answer Addiction

Tag: access to mental health care

  • Twitter Therapy Helps Nigerians In Need Of Mental Health Care

    Twitter Therapy Helps Nigerians In Need Of Mental Health Care

    Mental health nonprofits are using social media to close the treatment gap in Nigeria. 

    Nigeria’s continuing problem with brutal violence inflicted across the country (and neighboring Niger, Chad and Cameroon) by the terrorist group Boko Haram is causing mental health problems to rise, compounded by the government’s unwillingness to adequately fund mental health services in the country. A new report in The Week examines the issue in-depth.

    Boko Haram

    For a decade now, Boko Haram, also known as the Islamic State’s West Africa Province, has terrorized innocent Nigerians. The group is said to be responsible for killing more than 20,000 people and displacing more than 2 million since 2009. The group has abducted at least 8,000 children and teenagers, forcing them to join the fight or be killed.

    Boko Haram’s violent campaign has left countless Nigerians in need of mental health care to deal with the trauma of it all, but as The Week reported, the government has little interest in improving mental health care.

    Stigma is also a barrier to adequate care.

    “Nigerians still don’t see things like depression as illnesses… A lot of Nigerians would rather listen to their pastor or imam than a doctor,” said Emeka Iregbulem, a psychiatrist at the Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital in the city of Enugu.

    Nonprofits Address Treatment Gap

    NGOs like the Mentally Aware Nigeria Initiative (MANI) are left to address the treatment gap across Nigeria with little support.

    MANI, one of the few non-profits in Nigeria tackling mental health, in addition to deploying mental health providers to villages on kekes (motorized tricycle), is also utilizing social media to reach more Nigerians.

    With over 100 million Nigerians online, social media or messaging services like Twitter and Whatsapp offer some relief to those who may not otherwise address underlying trauma and depression.

    “We have counselors available around the clock to act as first responders when Nigerians need help,” said Rasheedat Olarinoye, a project manager with MANI. “Our counselors are volunteer psychiatrists and medical officers that are, a lot of times, the thin line between life and death.”

    Mowunmi Olanrewaju, a 26-year-old development worker in Lagos, received counseling from a MANI psychologist through Twitter direct messaging. She was dealing with depression and loneliness, but had not been able to afford regular counseling sessions.

    Olanrewaju said that receiving therapy through Twitter made a world of difference. “In the past, I imagined I would just get it over with (suicide), but now, I have seen enough of the pain and what it does to the people around you,” she said.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • NYPD Suicides Continue To Rise, Police Officers Urged To Seek Help

    NYPD Suicides Continue To Rise, Police Officers Urged To Seek Help

    “This isn’t something that we can speak of in hushed tones anymore. We need to talk openly about it,” said an NYPD official. 

    The New York City Police Department has lost two more police officers to suicide this year.

    On Tuesday, the New York Times reported that 2019 has been “one of the worst years for police suicides in the last decade,” after the suicide death of NYPD police officer Johnny Rios.

    The following day, on Wednesday evening, another police officer, 56-year-old Robert Echeverria, died by suicide. He was a 25-year NYPD veteran. 

    Echeverria, from Queens, marked the NYPD’s ninth suicide death this year, and the seventh since June. That month alone, the NYPD lost four officers to suicide.

    NYPD officials once again urged police officers to seek help, and called attention to the support and services available to them.

    Gerard Rios, Johnny Rios’ older brother, said that Johnny had been depressed since losing their father in April and the suicide death of fellow officer Kevin Preiss in June. Rios, 35, served in the 50th Precinct in the Bronx and had been with the NYPD for seven years.

    In June, NYPD Commissioner James P. O’Neill declared a mental health crisis in the department. “In less than 10 days’ time, the NYPD has lost three of its own to suicide,” O’Neill said on June 14. “This is a mental health crisis. And we—the NYPD and the law enforcement profession as a whole—absolutely must take action. This cannot be allowed to continue.”

    The Times noted that more police officers die by suicide every year than are killed in the line of duty. Since 2014, the NYPD has lost, on average, five officers each year to suicide.

    Mental Health Resources

    NYPD officials have urged officers to seek help available to them including department chaplains, peer-support groups and phone and text message hotlines.

    On Tuesday, following Rios’ death, NYPD Chief of Department Terence A. Monahan reiterated the importance of speaking up about this issue, and expressed the need for increasing the number of clinicians and peer volunteers available to counsel officers in crisis.

    “We want a person, when they are in a real dark period—low point in their life—to realize they can come, they can talk to someone. That it is OK to ask for help,” he said, according to the Times.

    “This isn’t something that we can speak of in hushed tones anymore,” Monahan continued. “We need to talk openly about it. Every precinct, every officer in the department. This is like any other disease. You get treated. You get well. You get back to work.”

    O’Neill told CNN in a recent interview that this month the NYPD will begin “retraining” staff, and ultimately officers, on mental health matters, stress and suicide. “The goal is to have a peer representative in every precinct and every command who’s specifically trained to help an officer step back from the brink and find a trained professional to help,” CNN reported.

    This note was posted on Pix 11’s coverage of this story:

    On their website, the NYPD lists numbers for their Employee Assistance Unit, Chaplain’s Unit, peer assistance program, and other resources.

    The NYPD also recommends POPPA — Police Organization Providing Peer Assistance. It’s a “volunteer police support network committed exclusively to providing a confidential, safe and supportive environment for police officers and retirees.” Their helpline is 1-888-COPS-COP (1-888-267-7267).

    If you or someone you know is considering suicide, contact the US National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-TALK (8255). It’s a free, 24/7 service that offers support, information, and local resources. You can also click here for additional hotlines within the tri-state area and the nation.

    View the original article at thefix.com