As a student of psychology and mental health, I found it worthwhile to write something about the raving global pandemic (COVID 19) especially in Ghana.
The situation does not look funny as we see it and therefore we need to attend to it carefully and follow the guidelines given to us by World Health Organization and other recognized health front liners.
I would use this write up to appeal to government to establish one communication channel for which all updates and information about COVID19 would be
chanelled. This is because much information from different channels (audios, videos, write ups etc.) is causing harm than we good.
Let me go straight to the point by talking about what I have captioned “POWER OF THE MIND”. The mind is the set of cognitive faculties including consciousness, imagination, perception, thinking, judgment, language and memory which is housed in the brain. The mind as defined above has a great influence on every human. No wonder the Bible once said “be ye transformed by the renewal of your mind”. In this crucial outbreak of the COVID-19, not only do we have to pay attention to precautions, symptoms, treatment, vaccines etc. but also the mental health of the nation at large.
Psychologists and qualified health personnel should be involved in psyching the mental state of the nation and more importantly confirmed victims of the disease. These victims need to come to a state where their mind would be stable enough to face the reality. This can be done by:
a. Taking the confirmed victims through existing therapy and practice. New therapy can be created as well to help the confirmed victims.
b. Taking confirmed victims through counseling sessions.
c. Involving them (victims) in treatment as well.
Let us not undermine the mental state of the majority who are not yet tested of the virus to know their health state. The symptoms or signs of COVID-19 which include; Fever, Sore throat, Coughing and Difficulty in breathing is a state of health that is already with us. I know and perceive a lot of people who are already and currently experiencing these signs in the period of COVID-19 are really going through severe mental struggle and we can’t leave them to face their fate alone. I recommend anyone going through some of
these mental struggles to visit any mental health centers or psychiatric units for help and support. These centers and units are for all of us and not the mentally retarded as perceived.
CONCERNED MENTAL HEALTH SPECIALIST,
KWESI ANTOH.
The writer, Kwesi Antoh is a graduate mental health specialist from Ghana’s University of Cape Coast (UCC)
