‘Pacified’ mental patients in cul-de-sac
MPs say patients are dehumanised, treated like animals
While the state of mental health facilities was the subject of debate in the National Assembly this week, the public is keen to see whether lawmakers are merely paying lip service to the crisis or whether there is a genuine resolve to remedy the situation.
Deputy finance minister Maureen Hinda-Mbuende says mental health patients are treated like animals and that there is no genuine attempt to help people suffering from mental illnesses.
She made the remarks on Tuesday in the National Assembly when lawmakers discussed a motion moved by Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) member of parliament, Winnie Moongo.
In her motion, Moongo lamented the state of the country’s mental health facilities, adding that patients are treated amid a cocktail of dilapidated buildings and a dire shortage of mental health personnel and beds, with patients with different afflictions thrown into one room. There is also a severe shortage of sedation and other necessary medication, she said.
“In most cases, patients are simply dosed with tablets and not really treated but instead people just want to pacify you,” Hinda-Mbuende said as she gave a heart-wrenching testimony of her family’s experience with her brother’s battle with mental illness, which ultimately led to him dying by suicide.
‘A mental prisoner’
She narrated how her brother was declared a state patient, effectively rendering him a “mental prisoner”.
Hinda-Mbuende said families struggle to get their relatives out of mental health facilities once they are declared state patients.
“When people with this status are in the community and have an anxiety attack and someone calls the police, they treat you like an animal. And when they admit you in these mental health hospitals or prisons, because of the safety aspect, you would be kept naked because you cannot have clothes on. In the process, you are dehumanised, which infringes on people’s human rights,” she said as her voice broke.
The deputy minister added that African cultural medicinal practices are contributing to the increasing rates of mental illness because “it prevents people from seeking help or visiting a psychologist for help”.
Rubber band of sanity
Home affairs minister Albert Kawana said every person has challenges with their mental health - it is only the degree of affliction that differs. The law also looks at how far a person has been provoked before they snapped, he added.
Kawana likened the sanity of a person to a rubber band that is stretched beyond its capacity, resulting in it snapping apart.
“All of us are candidates to be [admitted] to mental health institutions in our lifetime. We therefore have to take care of these mental institutions, and as far as possible make sure these facilities comply with international standards because these are our citizens and our relatives.
“You know, in England under criminal law, and also here, if a mentally disturbed person commits a crime, they would not be tried. Because of their mental illness, they do not know what they are doing.
“In the olden days, they were just locked up until death, but they must be put in mental health institutions to be treated,” he said, adding that those who have recovered should be released.
Wartime scenarios
Former deputy health minister Juliette Kavetuna, a nurse by profession, said the current laws are stuck in ‘wartime scenarios’, with mental patients locked up in facilities for extended periods of time.
According to her, one out of four people in parliament may have suffered from one or other form of mental health challenge, and it is pertinent that people stop stigmatising those who do.
“When you look at this house and ask who has had Covid-19, I will just speak up, then it becomes complex. When I ask how many are taking chronic medicine for diabetes and hypertension, a few will lift up their hands because there is no stigma.
“When I ask how many are taking antiretroviral [ARV] medication, there may be some people who would raise their hands, but when I ask how many of us are taking anti-depressants, I think it will just go mum because we don’t want anybody to know that we are suffering from a mental challenge,” she said.
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She made the remarks on Tuesday in the National Assembly when lawmakers discussed a motion moved by Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) member of parliament, Winnie Moongo.
In her motion, Moongo lamented the state of the country’s mental health facilities, adding that patients are treated amid a cocktail of dilapidated buildings and a dire shortage of mental health personnel and beds, with patients with different afflictions thrown into one room. There is also a severe shortage of sedation and other necessary medication, she said.
“In most cases, patients are simply dosed with tablets and not really treated but instead people just want to pacify you,” Hinda-Mbuende said as she gave a heart-wrenching testimony of her family’s experience with her brother’s battle with mental illness, which ultimately led to him dying by suicide.
‘A mental prisoner’
She narrated how her brother was declared a state patient, effectively rendering him a “mental prisoner”.
Hinda-Mbuende said families struggle to get their relatives out of mental health facilities once they are declared state patients.
“When people with this status are in the community and have an anxiety attack and someone calls the police, they treat you like an animal. And when they admit you in these mental health hospitals or prisons, because of the safety aspect, you would be kept naked because you cannot have clothes on. In the process, you are dehumanised, which infringes on people’s human rights,” she said as her voice broke.
The deputy minister added that African cultural medicinal practices are contributing to the increasing rates of mental illness because “it prevents people from seeking help or visiting a psychologist for help”.
Rubber band of sanity
Home affairs minister Albert Kawana said every person has challenges with their mental health - it is only the degree of affliction that differs. The law also looks at how far a person has been provoked before they snapped, he added.
Kawana likened the sanity of a person to a rubber band that is stretched beyond its capacity, resulting in it snapping apart.
“All of us are candidates to be [admitted] to mental health institutions in our lifetime. We therefore have to take care of these mental institutions, and as far as possible make sure these facilities comply with international standards because these are our citizens and our relatives.
“You know, in England under criminal law, and also here, if a mentally disturbed person commits a crime, they would not be tried. Because of their mental illness, they do not know what they are doing.
“In the olden days, they were just locked up until death, but they must be put in mental health institutions to be treated,” he said, adding that those who have recovered should be released.
Wartime scenarios
Former deputy health minister Juliette Kavetuna, a nurse by profession, said the current laws are stuck in ‘wartime scenarios’, with mental patients locked up in facilities for extended periods of time.
According to her, one out of four people in parliament may have suffered from one or other form of mental health challenge, and it is pertinent that people stop stigmatising those who do.
“When you look at this house and ask who has had Covid-19, I will just speak up, then it becomes complex. When I ask how many are taking chronic medicine for diabetes and hypertension, a few will lift up their hands because there is no stigma.
“When I ask how many are taking antiretroviral [ARV] medication, there may be some people who would raise their hands, but when I ask how many of us are taking anti-depressants, I think it will just go mum because we don’t want anybody to know that we are suffering from a mental challenge,” she said.
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