By DisabilityNewsGH
A clinical Health Psychologist at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Madam Elizabeth O. Ampofo, says, one’s inability to make choices, including an inability to choose a career or keep relationships is a sign of a mental health disability.
She opines that one does not need to get to the psychotic stage or be aggressive or have delusions and hallucinations to be diagnosed with a mental health condition.
She explains sound mental health as the ability to recognize what one can and cannot do; the ability to cope with life stressors, and the ability to be productive.
Madam Elizabeth Ampofo asserts that, once a person finds themselves unable to do the aforementioned, they may have a mental health condition and must seek help urgently.
She says, “Once you’re not able to identify your abilities, once you’re not able to be productive in your community, (it means) you may be mentally challenged. Once you’re not able to cope with life stressors; marital challenges or relationship challenges, it means you may be having a mental challenge or you may be having psychological distress. So you don’t need to get to the psychotic stage to be diagnosed with mental illness”.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with DisabilityNewsGH.com, Madam Elizabeth Ampofo suggests a once-a-year mental health screening for every Ghanaian.
She explains that life stressors like the hard economic challenges being experienced in the country, academic demands, family demands, and so on, could have effects on people’s mental health. And there is, therefore, the need for a regular mental health assessment, adding that once a person’s mental health is affected, their physical health is automatically affected.
SOURCE: DisabilityNewsGH.com
The general public needs sensitization on this particularly on this issue because most people are not aware of this. Regular seminars and workshops need to be organized in our schools, work places, churches and communities to make people aware of this condition because a lot of people are walking about with such conditions but they are not aware.