By Sulayman Waan
People from different walks of life at the Westfield Junction have expressed concerns over the plight of persons living with mental health issues within that terrain.
The Westfield intersection is one of the busiest areas within the Kanifing Municipality, as people frequent the area for business transactions, eating or leisure, among other errands- both day and night. It connects Banjul-Serekunda and other parts of Kombo. Different personalities, including persons with mental illness, could be seen there.
However, the plight of the people with mentally disorder who are seen loitering or staying permanently at this major meeting point, is a serious concern to some people there.
Speaking to Mansa Banko Online in an interview, one hawker Sulayman Bah, who sells coffee at Westfield area, said the mentally ill staying at Westfield are suffering a lot because they lacked proper care. He lamented that they are not supplied with feeding to ensure their survival, adding despite the coldness of the atmosphere they (people with mental disorder or illness) have to spend nights in open spaces.
“I am not narrating our (vendors) good deeds, but we always give them food to eat. And the food we are giving them is not sufficient for them, as they will not be satisfied,” decried of their plight.
The street coffee vendor said he believed the mental illness is caused by the over usage of narcotic drugs and constant worrying. He, however, noted that the conditions of some of these people are deteriorating because they are not being taken care of. Bah is of the settled view that if some of them are treated, they would recovered.
Mr. Badou Camara, another street vendor claimed that there are about ten persons with mental illness within the Westfield area, lamenting they are encountering severe difficulties in that environment as a result of poor care by their families and government.
Reminding that these mentally sick are Gambians, Camara charged that they deserve to live a decent life like any other person in the society. He also called on government as well as their family members to take good care of these people living with mental sickness.
While making it clear they are not doing anything to him, Camara, who stayed alongside the mentally ill at Westfield junction, however, told this medium that, some women would like to run away whenever they see the them there.
He opined that government should take all these persons with mental sickness to Tanka Tanka Hospital for treatment, to ensure their wellbeing. He is concerned that by loitering there, their mental conditions would deteriorate further.
It could be recalled that the latest World Health Organization report indicates that the number of mental ill in Gambia is significant. It states that about 120,000 people have a mental disorder requiring treatment (27, 000 affected by severe mental illness; a further 91,000 affected by a moderate to mild disorder).
It added, in an average year only 3,000 or so people receive treatment. This means that almost 90% of people with mental disorder in The Gambia are left without access to the treatment they need.
However, Sulayman Mbaye, chief of Westfield Car Park who has been staying at this place for years now, noted that the number of people with an unsound mind within the Westfield car park has increased, compared to the previous years. He reported that, now more people with mental illness, including women, are coming to their car park, daily. He added that some of these people with mental problems scavenge for remnant food around the Westfield restaurants for their survival, “because no person is providing them with food”.
Mbaye wants the Gambia government to work closely with family members in order to treat these people, maintaining that “they are marginalized but they could be very instrumental in the society.”
Mr. Babacarr Mbaye, a taxi driver pointed out that the mentally ill always linger across the municipality, “but we (drivers) have to be mindful, hence these people are not mentally healthy”.
Meanwhile, Madam Fatou Kinneh Jagne, psychologist at the University of The Gambia, has told this medium that mental illness is usually caused by distress, traumatic distress and confusion, among other behavioural problems.
The psychologist advised that lack of proper care for the mentally ill would deteriorate their conditions, adding if they are kept in a comfortable place, given nutritious foods and medication they will regain their senses.
She urged government and the family members of people mental disorder to improve their conditions, reiterating that “If they have proper care, they will regain their senses.”
Meanwhile, this reporter has tried to talk to a psychiatric doctor at Tanka Tanka but he’s yet to have access.
