Dr Taiwo Obindo, the President of Association of Psychiatrists in Nigeria (APN), says that more Nigerians are distressed now than before, and that may inflict mental health conditions on more Nigerians. Obindo gave assertion in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Lagos while reacting to President Bola Tinubu’s one-year in office He expressed worry over the current economic hardship, coupled with the level of poverty and other social factors in the country, saying that might likely inflict mental illness on more Nigerians. He listed the social factors to include high cost of living, insecurity, kidnapping, financial problems, inflation, child abuse, rape, broken homes and broken marriages, traumatic experiences and degrees of violence among others.
Obindo explained that people who were predisposed to the social factors were more likely to develop mental health issues particularly this period the country was faced with lots of economic challenges. Obindo decried the rate multiple taxations on small scale businesses and individuals, stressing the need to streamline the taxes. According to him, an average Nigerian is disposed to more pressure and distress now than before.
He called for intensified efforts by the Federal Government to release people of these pressures in order to safeguard mental health of its citizens. “I cannot say I have seen any major shift when it comes to policies, when it comes to decisions and when it comes to the health an.
