Meru Woman Representative Elizabeth Karambu Kailemia has called on men to open up on their sufferings in order to help fight mental illnesses.
She noted that with June being marked as men’s mental health month, support needs to be given to men as many are suffering in silence leading to various addictions.
“Sometimes addiction does not come because they want to, but because they have too many challenges and they want to offload them. They in turn result to drugs and alcohol abuse that cannot relieve the problem. All they need is support to let off the situation” she said.
She spoke at Somec wellness center Kambakia, a rehabilitation centre, where she donated beddings, toiletries, food stuffs tent and chairs.
Denis Kithinji Muthomi, an addiction psychologist, observed that many people struggling with mental health and those seeking rehabilitation services have been stigmatized.
“Kenya has been ranked fourth in the most depressed countries by the World Health Organization (WHO) in Africa and ninth worldwide. Alcoholism is also another big concern as well as nicotine addiction. Suicide incidences are as a result of mental illnesses” he said calling for support to each other.
Meanwhile, he also called on the government to invest more on awareness creation and preventive messages on mental health to save citizens.
Reverend Anthony Kirunda who is the chaplain at the institution, applauded the move by the Woman Rep, calling for support towards the addicted members of the community.
“Quite often our people are considered as if they are not important. We have come to discover that many families with people who are addicted have abandoned, neglected them and consider them as trash, we appreciate our Woman Rep for her support and we need to follow her gesture,” he said.
The chaplain also added that at the home, they have embraced the bio-psychospiritual approach where they engage the Lord’s doing in restoration of the lost hope to their clients.
“I want to encourage the parents and the community that in case one is suffering, seek dialogue and share your situation with a person to talk to and seek spiritual guidance” he advised.
