As countries around the world battle with the mental health fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, Guyana, according to Director of the Ministry of Public Health’s Mental Health Unit Dr Util Richmond-Thomas, has been able to grapple with this issue because there is a large ground force of trained personnel in primary care who know what to do with persons presenting mental health issues.
“… Hence there does not seem to be a dramatic upsurge in mental health cases,” Dr Richmond-Thomas told Stabroek Weekend in a recent interview.
She admitted that there has not been a large increase in calls to her unit, because the majority of calls about the pandemic go first to the well-advertised COVID-19 hotline. “Before the pandemic began, the Mental Health Unit was already engaged in training more than 400 doctors and nurses to screen for and manage the most common mental health issue,” Dr Richmond-Thomas revealed.
She added that those trained persons are out managing the illness in its early stages.
“That is the reason why there is not a big cry in the Guyanese population about mental health issues during the pandemic,” she added.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) fear, worry, and stress are normal responses to perceived or real threats, and at times when persons are faced with uncertainty or the unknown. As such it is normal and understandable that people are experiencing fear in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Added to the fear of contracting the virus in a pandemic such as COVID-19 are the significant changes to our daily lives as our movements are restricted in support of efforts to contain and slow down the spread of the virus,” the WHO stated.
And faced with new realities of working from home, temporary unemployment, home-schooling of children, and lack of physical contact with other family members, friends, and colleagues, WHO said, it is important that persons look after their mental, as well as their physical health.
“WHO, together with partners, is providing guidance and advice during the COVID-19 pandemic for health workers, managers of health facilities, people who are looking after children, older adults, people in isolation and members of the public more generally, to help us look after our mental health,” it was further revealed.
Talk to someone
Dr Richmond-Thomas advises those who may be facing mental health issues during this pandemic to have someone to talk to about things which bother them and the way they are feeling. Persons should keep busy with things they love to do and exercise. The use of alcohol and other substances is not advised, and persons should keep in contact with family members, friends, and social groups.
Help from the health care system and mental health professionals at their nearest health centre should be sought, while persons should also work on a regimen of keeping themselves healthy.
The mental health professional also advised persons to ensure they get at least 7 – 8 hours of sleep per night and to control all other illness and take medications as prescribed.
It is good to also bond with persons in the home circle, minimize bad news and read information about the pandemic only from reliable sources, such as Ministry of Public Health and PAHO/WHO.
Asked about the assistance provided by her unit to persons who may make contact, Dr Richmond-Thomas said that persons are screened for the most common mental health issues related to pandemics such as depression, post-traumatic stress, anxiety, and panic disorder. They will then receive talk therapy and/or psychotherapy as necessary and those who have to be referred to specialists are referred. There are also those who have to be referred to other agencies such as the Ministry of Social Protection, and those who have to visit the unit for follow up appointments.
Persons are allowed to visit the unit as all the necessary precautions are taken. They have to wash their hands at the gate and must wear a mask. Employees maintain a distance of 6ft from the client.
And as to any long-term measures implemented by the unit to deal with the mental health fallout from the pandemic, Dr Richmond-Thomas explained that the unit is small and therefore has to do its work through healthcare institutions and healthcare workers.
But, she said, long term measures would include ramping up capacity and training for mental health in the hinterland regions of 1, 7, 8, and 9. She also listed the advocating for a medical social worker at all healthcare facilities, especially the health centres, as another measure. Also on the agenda is ensuring that the mental health team is complete nationally and that would include having enough general psychiatrists, child and adolescent psychiatrists, social workers, psychologists, addiction specialists, occupational therapists, and such necessary personnel for and in all the regions.
Another long-term measure as foreseen by the unit is ensuring that the National Psychiatric Hospital is transformed and more rehabilitation and treatment for addiction is done there.
Dr Richmond-Thomas is well equipped for the position she now holds as she shared that she has been practicing medicine for some 26 years. Her experience is very broad as she has worked in nearly all areas of medicine before mental health.
“This was my dream. As a young person, I always wanted a profession where I could help persons and medicine seemed ideal,” the doctor said.
And while over the years she may have faced stressful situations, the mental health professional said what keeps her going is seeing lives improved as a result of her efforts. The appreciation of the mandate that she has to make real changes for clients with mental health issues, is another impetus.
In the area of mental health, she longs to see greater awareness and appreciation of mental health as essential to the well-being and greater mental health literacy among the population. She also wants more persons facing mental health issues to seek help and for less stigma and discrimination of persons with mental health issues. More empowerment of persons affected and more integration into the fabric of community life is also on her agenda of improvement in this area.
Dr Richmond-Thomas described herself as a person who is very concerned with the historical neglect and lack of appreciation for mental health and together with the staff of the Mental Health Unit is working assiduously to change this.
“My aim is to eventually give Guyana a top-class mental health system which is going to be a model for the Americas,” she said.
The Mental Health Unit can be contacted on telephone number 226-1416
