“Mental Health impedes societal growth”

By Lincoln G. Peters

The Executive Director of the African Youth and Women Empowerment Initiatives (AYOWEI) Mrs. Leelai M. Kpukuyou-Browne has stressed the need for serious global attention to be given to Mental Health issues.

According to her, mental health is impeding many strata including professional environments, family bonds, personal retrogression, uncontrollably negative reactions, amongst other vices that pose threat to society.

Speaking over the weekend in an interview with this paper, she said, having experienced several months of mental torture and abuse, she realized that it was time to “live again” and be a voice for the thousands of women who are experiencing similar situations in their marital home but cannot muster the courage to confront the status quo.

Accordingly, she highlighted that one of the silent weapons affecting cross-section of people globally is mental issues, which are sometimes derived from family abuse, neglect, bullying, and low self-esteem amongst others.

The female advocate emphasized the need to have specialized trauma counseling programs in Africa, with high profile Trauma Counseling Experts and other relevant materials that would potentially help in mitigating many of these Mental Health issues.

She said her organization, the Africa Youth and Women Empowerment Initiative, will continue to support teenage new baby mothers with dignity baskets through the project titled: Blako’s Basket. The project targets an initial six thousand (6,000) underprivileged new mothers in four counties in Liberia.

Prior to Mrs. Browne’s traumatic experience, she had acquired (10)  ten acres of land where she’s working to build the first holistic Transitional home project in Margibi County, Liberia. The project will provide Trauma Counseling and cater to women’s holistic psychosocial and economic needs and give them a chance to aspire to their full potential.

In West Africa today, there is this menace called “Kush” which is eating the fabric of many West African Countries due to its dangerous substances that cross-section of Citizens are addicted to, few weeks ago, a documentary was released by BBC on the danger Kush poses to the mental health of human beings, mainly our young generation. We can have all the best plans and structures but if mental health isn’t considered for quick actions, it could be another big devastation in the sub-region.

Today, many single mothers and even others in their respective families continue to be victims of abuse and are dealing with the issues of mental health which is a silent killer that also connects to depression.

At the same time, Mrs. Browne is calling on Civil Society Organizations, Charitable Organizations, INGOs, Philanthropic Organizations, and in fact part of key discussions during the upcoming 78th United Nations General Assembly and for prompt actions in the right direction for Governments of the Day to allocate strategic fundings in mitigating the threat Mental health poses at all level. There’s no time better than now to address the issues of curtailing mental health, she emphasized.