BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – HEALTH Officials said in a recent press conference that two of the major contributing factors of Mental Behaviour Disorder (MBD) are Rape and Substance Abuse.
Rape and other forms of sexual abuse along with inappropriate and unwanted touches specifically on a child can have lasting and damaging effects on them as they grow, while the abuse of substances such as alcohol, marijuana and cocaine could also lead to MBD.
The officials - Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Patrick Martin, Michelle Delacoudray-Blake, Director of Counseling Services within the Ministry of Social Development and Dr. Sharon Halliday, Psychiatrist working along with the Ministry of Health - are concerned about an increase in persons seeking the services of the Counseling Centre and are hoping to sensitize media professionals and by extension the general public about Mental Health in general.
The most common MBD’s are anxiety, depression, bipolar, substance abuse or dependence, Alzheimer’s disease, sleep and eating disorders, ADHD, oppositional defiance, sexual dysfunction and mental retardation.
Blake said that the Counseling Centre is sometimes called in to schools.
“With schools, the Centre is called in to deal with issues that are more pathological and clinical in nature which result from sexual abuse and physical abuse and where students are traumatized in some way that would affect their behavior and mental health. Their depression manifests in anger and there is a lot of conflict in school,” she said.
Blake said that the number of cases is rising with persons suffering from trauma, rape, issues related to past sexual abuse, and issues related to extreme depression that could also lead to suicide or persons thinking about suicide.
Persons who are at risk for MBD fall into one of three categories which are Biological, Psychological and Social.
In terms of Biological, persons who are sleep deprived, have major medical conditions, suffered head injury, or inherit the condition genetically are at risk.
When it comes to the Psychological category, persons who may have that broken mother-child bond, suffered from bullying, isolation, disappointments, unfulfilled expectations, fear and excessive worry and anxiety are all at risk.
In the Social category will be found persons who were raped, suffered a loss whether of income or through death or divorce; or experienced neighborhood violence or family violence.
Blake noted that people who are dealing with ongoing stress, ongoing trauma and conflict- if they don’t have coping skills or a support system, or if they are unable to understand their situation - then they are at risk of becoming mentally ill.
“We at the Centre see mood disorders, depression, anxiety; we see a lot of reactions to stress, there’s a lot of stress in society. We also see a lot of post traumatic stress disorder which is a delayed reaction to some sort of trauma that would have happened sometime ago, especially with sexual abuse.
“The majority of the standard clientele are normal people dealing with normal life stresses. It is important to understand that the majority of cases are normal issues but if people don’t take care of these things they would be in a situation where they are destructive,” she said.
Blake said they have seen an upsurge in persons coming to the centre over the past few weeks and that last year they saw about 109 persons while for this year they have seen 78 persons so far.
She encouraged people to take care of themselves and try to find contentment in life.
“People need to set goals and keep their expectations realistic; unrealistic expectations contribute to stress. Be flexible, and easily adjusted, be resilient to life issues, finding a balance is important. Establish relationships with people who are fulfilling and rewarding, engage in self-care activities ensuring that you eat exercise and get your rest.
“How you manage levels of stress, and learning the art of controlling the things you can and leaving the things you can’t are important. Surround yourself with positive people; letting go of things such as envy and greed will help maintain your mental wellness.”
Dr. Patrick Martin said that MBD’s are common in the Federation.
“They are so common that we all may have a family member or friend that is affected by it. By 2020 it is projected that MBD will cause 15% of attacks of all premature illnesses, premature disabilities and premature deaths and without expert care, treatment and support, persons with MBDs are unlikely to contribute to GDP,” he said.
Martin also noted that there is a need for more counselors and doctors trained in mental health as presently there are only two counselors and one psychiatrist in St. Kitts.
