Mogadishu — Al-Shabaab’s rule over parts of Somalia has left a number of people suffering from mental health problems as a result of the harsh punishments the group meted out, traditional healer Sheikh Ahmed Yusuf told Sabahi.
Yusuf, who runs an herbal medicine centre in Mogadishu that specialises in mental disorders, said 85% of the patients brought to his centre come from the areas al-Shabaab used to control.
He said his patients include a mother who lost her son in battle after he was forcefully recruited by al-Shabaab, parents who have watched their children stoned to death or have their hands and legs cut off, and others who have become mentally ill after being tortured themselves.
Asha Jumale, a 48-year-old mother of five from Barawe, told Sabahi she rushed her 24-year-old daughter to Mogadishu for treatment after al-Shabaab was forced out of Barawe.
“My daughter developed a mental illness when an al-Shabaab member forcefully married her after threatening her for one year that he would kill her parents and siblings if she refused him,” she said.
Jumale said her daughter suffers from deep depression, and that she has been unsuccessful in her quest to find adequate treatment despite taking her to several medical centres in Mogadishu.
“The mental problems al-Shabaab inflicted on our children are still evident,” she said. “I pray to God to give my daughter complete health. I do not know what else to say.”
Mental health services are lacking:
Although there is a demonstrated need for mental health services in Somalia, mental illness often goes untreated for several reasons.
First, Somalia’s healthcare infrastructure is lacking in general and access to mental health facilities is even more limited, with only 13 outpatient facilities and 390 beds in mental hospitals throughout the country, according to the World Health Organisation’s Mental Health Atlas 2011.
In addition, religious and cultural beliefs play a role in the treatment, or non-treatment, of mental illness.
Many Somalis believe mental disorders can be treated only with the help of the Qur’an, according to a 2009 assessment of the mental health system in Somalia issued by the World Health Organisation.
Some also believe people with mental illness have special powers given by God and should be respected, while others believe people with mental illness possess black magic or are evil.
In addition to these challenges, Somalia’s mental health system is poorly developed and is not supported by the government or international non-governmental organisations, the report said.
While there have been some developments in the care for people with mental illness in recent years, more services are needed, doctors say.
Doctor Abdirahman Ali Awale Habeb, director of the Mogadishu-based Habeb Mental Health Foundation, said that since he opened his first centre in 2005, his foundation has treated more than 20,000 people suffering from mental disorders.
At present, 280 patients are receiving treatment in the foundation’s seven medical centres located in Mogadishu, Beledweyne, Galkayo, Baidoa, Kismayo, Marka and Jowhar, Habeb said, adding that most of those patients have come in from regions recently liberated from al-Shabaab.
“Mental illnesses are caused by painful encounters that people face every day, such as seeing a person killed in front of you while you are being threatened,” he told Sabahi. “This causes sadness, fear and paranoia in the person who will constantly relive what happened to him and what he saw.”
Habeb said his foundation does not receive government support and funds the medical facilities with the modest fees he charges patients based on what they can afford to pay. Each facility is staffed with only one doctor and a few nurses, he said, adding that more trained healthcare professionals are required to adequately provide care to those in need.
“We informed the prime ministers of the last few governments that there is a great need for the government to assist mentally ill people,” he said, calling on the government to commit to building and funding medical institutions specialised in mental illnesses.
Habeb also called on the Somali people to show compassion to people with mental illnesses who may commit crimes.
“Sometimes it is possible that a healthy person will retaliate with equal force against a mentally ill person who injures that person,” he said. “This happens often, and many times, mentally ill people are brought to us with serious injuries on their bodies.”
Source:allAfrica.com