World’s Mental Health Day

This year’s World’s Mental Health Day theme was ‘Mental health for all: Greater investment, greater access’ and on October 10th, we joined the celebrations.

An event was organised to meet with relatives of patients at the Unit in our Mental Health Center and to discuss issues concerning mental health with an emphasis on this theme.

Some members of staff worked with the Ministry of Health (MoH) with the aim of all mental health-related facilities operating together as a team for the celebration.

Representatives from our Unit were also assigned to an awareness program on ECOWAS radio in Monrovia. A virtual indoor program was held via Zoom to mark Mental Health Day where, through PowerPoint presentation, discussions were held with decision-makers on mental health situations faced in Liberia.

Other activities included community visits, an indoor program and outreach awareness to specific target groups like E.S. Grant Mental Hospital, Group of 77 and slum communities.

A few patients made themselves available to record a video for Sisters Hospitallers sharing their opinions on their interaction with people taking into account their mental illness – and how they live independently with it. Korlue Draper said “My greatest achievement was to live independently and be able to reinsert in the community”, Deddeh Johnson told us “For me, it was to have access to the labour market” Yassah Jallah declared that “If we take the medication and follow the doctor’s advice, we are able to live independently”.