Mental Health Unit, Education Ministry launch programme to tackle mental health in adolescents

Jul 08, 2019 News

Forty percent of Guyana’s population comprises of people under the age of 20, and one in four are affected by mental health issues in any given year. According to reports, there has been an increase in mental health cases in Guyana, affecting those especially in the adolescent years.
In light of this, the Mental Health Unit (MHU) of the Ministry of Public Health has partnered with the Ministry of Education for a continuous programme to train teachers to better equip themselves for early detection, and to counsel and to deal with students who might be suffering from mental health issues.
“Teachers are one of the more important assets for childhood and adolescent development, and they spend an immense amount of time with their students,” Director of the MHU, Dr. Util Richmond- Thomas said, during an initial training session for teachers.”

Some of the participants

“This is why it makes them uniquely capable to identify the early signs of mental illness
The Ministry of Education has chosen 25 teachers from Region 4 for a two- day training session which will be conducted by the MHU and their team.
This is the first mental health training programme being held for teachers in Guyana and its importance is a “milestone for the Ministry of Public Health.”
Util Richmond- Thomas noted the importance of the nation’s adolescents, adding that their health should not be ignored.
“We have traditionally placed more emphasis on physical health on our children. We would have physical education classes, sports– but for too long we have neglected the mental health of our children. Today we take the first step to change this and focus on the entire wellbeing of Guyana’s young future.”
Senior Psychologist, Mr. Balogun Osunbiyi related in his speech that, “You can be healthy financially, you can be healthy physically and have muscles like Arnold Schwarzenegger, but if you are emotionally damaged, then truly, you are unhealthy… This programme is being done not just to better human resource skills, but for early detection and referral. We don’t want to wait until the issue becomes complicated, or even worse. That individual might commit suicide because they are unable to handle the pressure of their sickness and their environment.”
He believes that parents play a pivotal role in the health of their child. Hence, Osunbiyi stated that this programme will be branched out into a parental targeted project, so that they too can be capable of counseling and helping their child to become healthier.
“It is useless for us to get that student to a better place for them in the school for them to only return to a toxic environment.”
The MHU has also launched support groups to deal with narcotics, depression and alcohol use.
Richmond- Thomas stated that, “We hope that at the end of the training session we would be more confident and more capable of assisting the future of the Guyanese population.”