FNHE Enugu Marks 2024 World Mental Health Day

Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, FNHE Enugu, Marks 2024 World Mental Health Day

In every calendar year, October 10 is set aside to mark world mental health day. The world mental health day is an international day for global mental health education awareness.

In line with the vision and mission statement of the hospital, Federal Neuropsychairtic hospital Enugu celebrated the world mental health week with patients, member of the staff, students and facilitators. This celebration highlighted the advocacy on mental stigma and road walk awareness by the hospital in commemoration of the week.

The day raises awareness of mental issues around the world and mobilizes efforts in support of mental health. Mental illness are conditions involving changes in emotion, thinking, and behaviour ( or a combination of both). Mental illness is also called mental health disorders, refers to a wide range of mental health conditions, disorders that affect your mood, thinking and behaviour. Examples of mental illness include depression, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, eating disorders and addictive behaviours.

On the other hand, mental wellbeing encompasses emotional, psychological, and social wellbeing, influencing cognition, perception and behaviour.
Mental health is very important factor in social stability in human world that every leader, every institution should not give it a passing look but a conscious attention in order to arrest the rapid increase in mental health problems across the world today. It’s therefore not surprising that Mr. Antonio Gutteres, the United Nations Secretary-General has this to say about this year’s world mental health day:
“Around the world, roughly 1 in every 8 persons are living with a mental disorder. No community or society is spared. Suicide remains a major cause of deaths among young people as they continue to suffer in silence”.

Speaking on the one-day awareness workshop this year’s (2024) world mental health day organized by the past and present students of School of Psychiatric Nursing, Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital Enugu, FNHE, held on October 10,2024, the keynote speaker of the event, Prof. M.O. Ezenwa, (a consultant Psychiatrist) said that incidences of mental illness was alarming proportion in our society that almost every neighborhood had a victim of mental health problem.

In her speech to declare the program open, the Ag. M. D. of the hospital, Dr. Ngozi Unaogu, attributed the high increase in mental health cases to several factors ranging from drugs abuse, unemployment, and insecurity problems in Nigeria. She called on the government to take steps to arrest the worrisome situation.
Speaking further,she called on good-spirited individuals to support the treatment of patients as the cost of treating and rehabilitating because mentally sick people had become huge.
According to the UN Secretary general, Mr. Guterres, we should remember that there’s no health without mental health.

Therefore, it’s important that you do your best to avoid breaking down mentally.
The federal Neuropsychiatry hospital Enugu concluded the event with a city-wide sensitization match in Enugu town.

From the corporate affairs/information and special duties unit FNHE.