Minister of Health, Hon. Rudyard Spencer is urging persons to increase support for family members and friends who may be experiencing mental health problems. He says mental health patients are often neglected and scorned because of the stigma that is associated with mental disorders.

The Minister was speaking in relation to the observance of this week as Mental Health week under the theme “Mental Health & Chronic Physical Illnesses; the need for Continued & Integrated Care”.  According to him, it is crucial that the public have a better understanding of mental health issues, their symptoms and possible treatment.

“Mental health is everybody’s business. The support of family and friends is therefore needed to reduce stigmatization and ensure that persons with mental health problems receive appropriate treatment. Community services also need to be improved to deal with mental health issues comprehensively,” he says.

Last year, over 10,000 home visits were made by community mental health teams. This is one of several strategies employed by the Ministry of Health in this area and in a bid to uphold the practice of integrated mental health care in health institutions.

“As part of our integrated care strategy, patients are screened in the chronic physical illness clinics for depression and screening also takes place in psychiatric clinics for diabetes and hypertension. To ensure that these screenings are carried out routinely and effectively we constantly update the training of our mental health workers and are now in the process of increasing the cadre’” he said.

Meanwhile, Minister Spencer points out that there is an inextricable link between chronic illness and mental illness. Research indicates that persons with chronic physical illnesses have much higher rates of depression and anxiety than the general population and so treatment for these illnesses should not be isolated but combined with mental health assessment and treatment of the mental health problems.

Mental illness can worsen the prognosis of persons with chronic physical illnesses such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes and cancer. By 2020, depression is projected to become the second leading cause of disability worldwide.  Studies have shown that one in every five Jamaicans, is depressed. In 2008 the total discharges from government hospitals for Neuro-Psychiatric conditions was 4,493 with males accounting for 56.3% of that number.

“The health of our nation should be a concern for all of us. No one should feel isolated because they have a mental disorder. I urge you to embrace the mentally ill and promote a society in which the total health of the individual is addressed through continued and integrated care,” Minister Speancer said.

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Contact: MOH, Public Relations Unit Tel: 967-1561