–says Adviser to the Minister of Health

PROMOTING better mental health is a key focus of the Ministry of Health and Adviser to the Minister of Health, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy, said that there will be a revitalised focus on supporting people with depression this year.

Dr. Ramsammy, who is a former Health Minister, explained that depression is one of key considerations this year because the ministry recognises that people need much more support.

“In every country, there is a sizeable population that suffers from some effect of depression. Not everyone has clinical depression (where people do need treatment, etc.), but a large number of citizens do have some level of depression that may not need medicine but needs support and counselling,” Dr. Ramsammy said during an exclusive interview with the Guyana Chronicle.

Cognisant of this, the Health Ministry hopes to offer that much-needed support and counselling to people. And it hopes to do so in a manner that involves greater community participation and support.

According to the adviser, the ministry is resuscitating the “gatekeeper’s programme” that integrates influential or respectable community members. Through this programme, he said, religious leaders, law enforcement officers and teachers are among those persons who will be trained to recognise signs of depression within their communities and report them to the health sector or the ministry. With those efforts, it is more likely that people can get the professional care and/or support they require.

“We have also developed something called a depression index of suspicion and we also train nurses and doctors so that they can start administering treatment to the people, if necessary, at the local health facilities,” Dr. Ramsammy highlighted too.

These are not necessarily new programmes but he noted that they are being resuscitated because of the benefits they garnered previously.

“The difference from the past is that while mental health was dealt with by a specialised service and only available centrally, we have now integrated it at the community level within schools, churches, temples, mosques, etc.

“We have to do more training and ensure that there are more personnel such as councillors, phycologist and physiatrists. These are the human resources training programmes that the ministry has put in place to ensure that we have enough of them,” Dr. Ramsammy said further.

POSTPARTUM DEPRESSION

Beyond the general focus on depression, the Adviser highlighted that there are some specific areas that will be targeted. Postpartum depression is one area that will receive specific attention.
The United States’ (US) Mayo Clinic explained that many mothers experience “baby blues” after childbirth, which commonly include mood swings, crying spells, anxiety and difficulty sleeping. These baby blues usually begin within the first two to three days after delivery and may last for up to two weeks. Some new mothers, however, experience a more severe, long-lasting form of depression known as postpartum depression.
Dr. Ramsammy said that not much focus on has been placed on postpartum depression but in the ministry’s new plans, there will be more support for mothers during pregnancy and after birth.

He promised that women will have greater access to counselling. With prolonged postpartum depression, they will also receive treatment.

The ministry’s mental health programme is also developing guidelines to deal with postpartum depression, according to Dr. Ramsammy. This is particularly important since it is widely accepted that mental health has to be integrated at all levels of the healthcare system.

While the Health Ministry focuses on improving mental health care, Dr. Ramsammy emphasised that mental health challenges are not like any of the physical diseases. Instead, he explained that they can lead to depression – a condition that many people experience.

And if people are better able to understand mental health and the support needed, the adviser opined that Guyana will be a place known for its noteworthy support and care.

“Stigmatising these things only makes them worse, and because they might be present in all of our families, we are contributing to our own problems,” he said.