Mental Health in Cameroon, unfortunately is handled or treated as a taboo subject. Is it not amazing that in a country where two out of every five citizens has a propensity to develop some level of "Mental Breakdown". YES, the statistics are alarming but do we as Cameroonians, talk less of our Government give a rat's arse as to the plight of these fellow compatriots who find themselves in this "unfortunate" diagnostic nightmare?
For anyone who has never visited "CENTRE JAMOT" the lone Mental Institution catering for 22 million Cameroonians; I will advice you to do so. If you are not scandalized by the squalor, dejectedness, criminal neglect and outright dereliction of duty by all of us Cameroonians; then you obviously "belong to that Institution". Talk of a modern day concentration camp. Families have abandoned
their "Loved Ones" to the mercy of "On Vas Faire Comment"...C,est Un Fou. Families don't even bother to "Visit" their relatives who are perambulating like lost sheep at the Centre Jamot premises. Some, outright simply blame the Individuals for being the source of their own "malchance"...with stuff like "Il a "MANGE" l,argent de la Tontine...Il a Nioxe la femme du voisin...Il a "Ecrase" le marigot de son frère. And you tell me, how does doing any of those societally unacceptable practices make you become "A Craze Man"?
Once again, the problem here is one of EDUCATION.
Mental Health disorders take many different forms and affect people in different ways. Schizophrenia, Depression and Personality Disorders are all varying types of mental health problem. Diseases such as Dementia generally develop in old age or even in our early forties. The question is:
What is the curriculum in CUSS, other Medical Schools and Nursing schools as related to Mental Health.
What is the Budget allocated by the Cameroon Government to the Ministry of Public Health and Social Services in tackling Mental Health challenges?
What have we as Citizens done to HELP our Government in this regard?
What about having ONE "Centre Jamot" Health Facility in each of our Ten Provinces?
What is wrong in creating a completely new Department of Mental Health Services?
Why is it that those who need help are often left to seek it themselves, and rarely, if ever, are they offered the help they are entitled to?
I have heard of Diasporans organizing laudable "MEDICAL MISSIONS" to "Fight" SIDA/AIDS, Malaria, Bobbi and Njang M.. Cancer (Prostate), Mountoli, Sugar Sugar, Belle Worms, Kwashiorkor, "High Brod Pressure", "Die-Beti-se", Gonorrhea & Syphilis blocking Uterus from carrying Belle, Epilepsy, Robotic Surgery, Sleep depravation, Bobbi adding called with the fancy terms of Breast Augmentation, Bio-Identical Hormonal Metamorphosis (what kind of Medical Mission is dis one sef). YES all of these may be good for our people, BUT what about the TWO out of FIVE Cameroonians suffering from Mental Illnesses? Is anyone out there planning a Medical Mission for our so called
"Craze People" ...who may simply be suffering from "Mild Depression" or simply having a bad day? I want to be part of that type of Medical Mission.
Have a very productive day.
Mishe Fon
From: Pa Fru Ndeh <PaFruNdeh@YAHOO.COM>
To: Cameroon Politics <cameroon_politics@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Tuesday, July 2, 2013 11:50 AM
Subject: [camnetwork] Streets of Bamenda inundaunted with mad men
To: Cameroon Politics <cameroon_politics@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Tuesday, July 2, 2013 11:50 AM
Subject: [camnetwork] Streets of Bamenda inundaunted with mad men
Streets of Bamenda in undaunted with mad men
(Cameroonjournal), Bamenda, June 23. The streets of Bamenda are witnessing an unprecedented increase in the number of mentally challenged persons. Most of them appear to be in their twenties and early thirties. While Bamenda city dwellers remain very concerned about the attendant image that their presences gives the city, lots of reasons – some speculations, are being advanced for their influx on the streets of the city.
First, there are unconfirmed allegations that some neighbouring regions are transferring their mentally challenged and dropping them in close proximity to Bamenda so that they have just a walking distant into the metropolis.
The case of the Mayor of Mbouda in the West region has been cited. People in Bamenda have alleged that in an effort to keep his town clean, his workers were seen dropping off the deranged from his municipality in Matazem, in Santa. The result - most of them then made their way down to Bamenda city. The allegation appears to hold water based on the fact that most of the mad men are unable to speak any mother tongue that is spoken in the entire region.
The heavy cultivation of marijuana in the region is also being pointed to as a reason for the many mad people on the streets. A handful of divisions in the region like Bui, Donga Mantung and Boyo have been noted to supply quite a heavy amount of this intoxicating drug. Most young men and women smoke it without reserve and it often result to their walking mad on the street. Majority of them end up on the streets of Bamenda half- naked or naked.
Away from drugs, some have attributed the phenomenon to curses acquired through fraudulent undertakings online in what in Nigerian parlance is popularly called "419."
Many of them are accused of "scamming" and have picked their misfortune from the "Machines they play with". The desire to get rich quick, drive in big cars and have a fleet of girl or boy friends is what has pushed most youths into "scamming". Many of them end up soiling their hands in some kind of cult and as a result they end up picking papers along the streets and running naked with nothing to show.
Authorities of the Bamenda City Council are yet to react and seek solution to the situation, which could go very well off hand. Many of them are not only vicious but have made a real mess of important locations in the city like the famous commercial avenue
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