By CHARLES IWUOHA

The Chief Medical Director of Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Enugu, Dr. Monday Igwe, has disclosed that there has been an increase in cases of anxiety and depression brought to the hospital since the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic.

Igwe told newsmen in Enugu on Tuesday that the COVID-19 pandemic brought human and economic losses leading many to a situation of hopelessness, anxiety and depression.

According to him, just as the pandemic affected the economic wellbeing, and physical wellbeing; it also has a lot of psychological and psychiatric consequences as well.

Dr. Igwe said: “So many people due to loss events; some have lost their jobs, some have lost a lot of things, even restrictions of their movement during the lockdown and they were not able to move.

“Some people especially those who are mental illness prone are developing psychological and psychiatric complications.

“It is already showing by the increasing number of cases we see each day in the hospital.

“Recently, we have been recording a lot of anxiety and depression cases and all these are as a result of the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“At times it is even triggered by some event surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic; some loss, some fear of getting the virus.

“Some are getting into hard drug/substance abuse occasioned by not going to work and having ample time to associate with bad companies, which they would not have had the chance to associate with such companies if they go to their daily work.

“You see more people engage in taking cannabis, alcohol and other injurious substances.”

The Medical Director, however, said that the hospital did not have a ready statistics compiled on the rise, adding that “it is evidently clear that there had been a spike from our daily consulting and treatment.”

On how the health facility coped with the pandemic, Igwe said that the hospital was initially overwhelmed by the challenges posed by COVID-19 especially on social/physical distancing “since mentally ill persons are not easily controlled. You be talking one, they will be talking two. So, we earlier had the challenge of controlling them to maintain social/physical distancing especially for those in the outpatient ward.”

The medical director, however, said that the first thing the management did was to buy more canopies and seats as well as did proper seating arrangement in the waiting areas and change seating arrangement in the consulting rooms.

“We also had issues of funds for procurement of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) as well as where to even buy them; so we had to improvise with what we can do locally.

“The pharmacy department was mobilised and it is producing hand sanitisers, liquid soap, disinfectants and other things needed for human and environmental cleaning of the hospital.

“Our occupational therapy department has been mobilise with new sawing machines and accessories to produce local face masks in large quantities to complement the surgical ones we can afford. We are spending more on buying water from water vendors daily.

“However, the Federal Government through the NCDC and UNIDO made some supplies of these essential PPE to the hospital recently,” he said.

Igwe appealed to philanthropic individuals, organisations and foundations to assist the hospital to overcome some of its challenges.

The Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Enugu is the only specialised psychiatric and psychological treatment facility in the South-East; while the hospital also serves some parts of the South-South and North Central.

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