Abuse in Mental Health Care? Surely Not!

The BBC's Focus on Africa TV programme has uncovered a number of abuses in a mental health institution in the Ghanaian capital, Accra. 

When asked why the conditions were so poor, the Medical Director replied that hospitals are seriously challenged - financially, logistically, and so on, and that what you are seeing is probably the best that you can get under the circumstances.  He also added that Mental Health services have not been a priority.

And why would they be?  It's easy to neglect vulnerable people when no one cares about them.  Who will notice?  Especially when they have been dropped off by a family member and abandoned.  What chance do they have of recovery?

Doris, who manages her mental health with the support of family says: "You need a family to accept the person.  You need a family to show them love."

And sadly, in a world that stigmatises mental health issues, and where vulnerable people are abused or neglected, they also need a family that will protect them, even from mental health "care" at times.