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St. Lucians are being urged to take care of their mental health.
This was part of the message during a Mental Health Awareness Motorcade hosted by the Ministry of Health.
Stigma and discrimination are being blamed for persons avoiding treatment for mental illness. The fight against stigma and discrimination played a major part of this year’s World Mental Health Day observances.
More in this report:
SOURCE: Ministry of Health
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Mental Health awareness in SLU should have been applied 50+ years ago!! Thankfully it is not too late – but the people who should be targeted are FAMILIES who have, and are being burdened with relatives with this dreadful condition. So many mental factors and disorders contribute to this disease. Most families have NO IDEA on how to cope with their mentally challenged relatives – and the ignorance is blistering!! Focus should really be on the families who have to manage with this disability everyday.
Absolutely LAB – that is where the stigma lies. People in the community don’t know what to do, where to go for services for their family members, or individuals in their communities. Calling the police doesn’t always end well – a recent case where a young man, not violent, shot dead. Imagine the trauma for that family. Then the mentally unwell get taken to the Mental “Wellness” Centre, where if they are deemed psychotic, are prescribed medication. No back up support or rehab plan, no meetings with families afterwards. Terrible state of affairs. Resulting suicides. Depression due to social isolation/economic/domestic factors is a different sort of mental health issue, but it seems the so called Professionals can’t make this distinction… This rally, and hopefully better resulting services and programs is a good start, but an entire overhaul of mental well being in St Lucia needs to be undertaken IMMEDIATELY!