POVERTY: Families now scamper for trashed food in waste bins – This Nigeria

*Psychiatrists: Depression already leading to insanity

2023 report: Nearly 12% of world population in extreme poverty live in Nigeria

With excruciating pain and pangs of anguish, Nigerians are facing the daunting economic situation facing them in recent times with equanimity, anger, frustration, or sadness, depending on who was throwing the hat into the ring of challenge.

Without exaggeration, families now scramble for trashed food in waste bins, and virtually a large proportion of the population is now suffering from one form of social, health, or mental challenge, including depression or other forms of ailment occasioned by acute inflationary trends prevailing in the land.

Statistics show that the headwinds of want and deprivation have pushed most countrymen below the poverty line. Many have relapsed into different levels of depression while they battle for survival without a visible solution in sight.

For instance, statistical figures show that, between 2016 and 2023, Nigeria’s share of the global poverty line rose from about nine to 11 per cent.

This year (2013), the figures had climbed to about 12 per cent of the world population living in extreme poverty.

Considering the poverty threshold put at some $1.90 per day within the time frame, a study by Research Expert, Doris Dokua Sasu, who covers primarily society and agricultural topics for Africa, particularly Ghana and Nigeria, estimates that the share is likely to reach 422 million living in poverty by 2025.

The study, which was published on November 2, 2023, on www.statista.com, noted that apart from rising rates of youth unemployment, the monthly living wage for individuals and families in the country ebbed between 2015 and 2020 and it is still cascading down the hill, by state figures.

Pitching this against the situation in other parts of the world can also be very revealing. For instance, in Wales, some stats show that 20 per cent of adults in most deprived areas report being treated for a mental health condition, compared to eight per cent in the least deprived.

This could, however, be two times higher in Nigeria because of the high level of poverty, unemployment, underemployment, and absence of social safety net, medical personnel told our correspondents.

Meanwhile, medical experts and other para-medical personnel have expressed deep concern about the grave consequences of these indices to the dimension of social malady pushing Nigerians to the precipice.

Faced with this economic quagmire ravaging Nigerians, ThisNigeria crew went to town to sample the opinion of experts on the possible effects of poverty ravaging the land.

A laboratory scientist in one of the public health facilities in the Ojuelegba axis of Lagos State, Mrs. Helena Jebba, said seeing people display acts of insanity due to economic hardship has become a common scenario in the metropolis.

She said the situation became worse after the COVID-19 lockdown which led to the shutdown of several businesses.

Jebba gave an illustration of what she had experienced in the course of carrying out her duties.

She said, “It’s no longer news to see people go insane due to economic hardship. If this had happened before 2020, we would have been asking more questions because it was after the COVID-19 global shutdown that the situation became worse.

“To make matters worse, people who have one medical challenge or the other can no longer foot their bills because they do not have the money and they now report all sorts of things.”

One of the patients hanging around the medical facility spoke with ThisNigeria. She identified herself as Iyabo.

The heavily pregnant lady was said to have started behaving abnormally when she was told that she would give birth through a Cesarean Session (CS) due to complications that were detected in the course of her antenatal.

When probed, the lady in her mid-30s simply said, “I wish I could get someone to pay for this delivery so that I can work for the person until the money is completed. This is something I have been waiting for, but now I am about to have it but cannot afford the CS of N250,000.

“The man who got me pregnant has refused to be financially responsible. That is why I am going through this. I am confused and I do not know what to do.”

However, the lab scientists explain further, “Her case is one typical example in this hospital. She is pregnant and in the course of antenatal, it was discovered she cannot give birth through the normal delivery process- that it will be through a caesarean session. Immediately she was told, and she cried that she did not have the money for CS and that she would depend on divine intervention.

“The day she was told that it would be through CS she started behaving like a mental patient. She started talking to herself, blaming herself for the condition she found herself in. She has been looking for a baby all these years, but now she sees the pregnancy as a big problem.

“She keeps talking to herself and says she doesn’t want this child anymore because of the cost of delivery. She has just been hanging around this facility for some weeks now. The mental state of this woman would have been stable if she had the money to foot her bill.”

According to Jebba, in a public hospital, CS costs between N250,000 and N300,000, while in a private hospital, it could start from N800,000 to N1.8m for standard private hospitals.

“Some of them in this condition have resorted to going to church to seek spiritual help even when they know the stark reality of their health situation. There are others in this condition who have sold their babies and used the money to move on in life.

“If you visit the hospital often you will experience the different challenges people face and the harsh decisions they take as a result of the economic reality. When you sit them down, they will tell you their situation.

“Patients, especially women, can do anything to salvage their situation when faced with financial challenges. Although some go into street begging, others genuinely get linked with someone who would bail them out.”

A medical practitioner in a private hospital in the Egbeda of Lagos State, who would not want the name of the health facility mentioned, Dr Anthony Nnamani, gave another example of a man who started behaving abnormally after he was told the cost of treating his medical condition.

He explains, “There was a man that came to our hospital with severe stomach pains, and upon examinations and tests, it was discovered her had appendicitis, we gave him the cost of carrying out the surgery and the guy requested for a drug to subside the pain, we gave it to him and he left with a note that he cannot afford the surgery.

“To that patient, coming back was impossible and that means he might live with that pain until a miracle happens. People come to the hospital and drop something like a laptop as collateral.”

Families now scamper for trashed food in waste bins

In Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State, a woman who identified herself as Alaba, has taken to sending her children centres where they have events to scout for wasted food.

The widow, who was looking unkempt with her three children, said the economic hardship pushed her into looking for food in trash bins, especially where there are ceremonies like weddings, birthdays, or funerals.

She said, “I normally send my children to source for trashed foods at events and I put the remains in different pots that will last us for some days. When they bring it, we put the rice together, all the rice. All soups and all swallows are put separately.

“We warm them and it will serve as a meal for some days. We neatly remove the dirt in the food and eat. We do not have any source of income and I cannot resort to stealing.”

A psychologist, Mr Amuza Abiri, said, “The poverty rate has pushed people to look for food in the dustbin as if they are mentally deranged. They are normal but cannot afford to buy food because of lack of money.

“The dustbin corner, if you observe, is the most visited in the neighbourhood. People now see the treasure in dustbins.  Go to parties and you see the way hungry children scamper for wasted foods, you will thank God for giving you a decent meal at least once a day.”

Meanwhile, a clergyman, Rev. Thomas Idu, said no portion of the Bible links poverty with mental health challenges.

He nonetheless noted that contemporary studies show that there is a relationship between poverty and mental health problems.

Mental health experts, he said, attribute the causes of some mental health problems to stress and poverty is top on the list of stress inducement.

Noting that poverty is a key player, Idu said that people in poverty often face high levels of stress.

“For instance, due to struggling to make ends meet, overcrowded or unsafe housing, fear of crime, and relatively poor physical health, may likely lead to mental health conditions,” he said.

Quoting United Kingdom (UK), data, the clergy said, “In Wales, 20 per cent of adults in most deprived areas report being treated for a mental health condition, compared to eight percent in the least deprived.”

He said that the statistics would be two times higher in Nigeria because of the high level of poverty, unemployment, underemployment, and absence of social safety net.

He also lamented the lack of awareness, and absence of well-equipped mental health facilities and professionals in the country to tackle the growing case of mental health challenges.

Psychiatrists: Depression already leading to insanity

Speaking with ThisNigeria, a psychiatric doctor at Karu General Hospital Abuja, Dennis Oseyin, agreed that poverty has contributed to the increase in the numbers of persons with depression and insanity.

He explained that when burdened with stress, vicissitudes of life, and hardships, people can easily fall into depression saying depression comes in three stages: mild, moderate, or severe.

According to him: “Persons who have severe depression may experience hallucinations and delusional thinking which has the same symptoms as psychosis and some of the symptoms associated with schizophrenia”.

He added that persons with depression feel sad and hopeless most of the day.

“When you are facing financial challenges and going through hardship, you are likely to go through depression and if you are unable to come out of it early and stay in there for too long, the depression could grow to a severe one.

“Money is very important in our everyday life because it helps us meet our needs. Besides, what is prevalent in Nigeria is that some persons don’t earn enough, some are underpaid, quite an alarming numbers are unemployed and the country is going through inflation; and as such more people are falling below the poverty line, which consequently will lead to depression.

“It is so sad that the hyperinflation prevailing in the economy has eroded the middle-class structure in Nigeria. Consequently, people within this cadre have fallen below the poverty line. All these can lead to depression because financial challenges can cause psychotic depression and this can lead to insanity.

“When you need for example N1m to meet your needs but you can only raise N100,000 you will spend a lot of time thinking and this can take a toll on you and lead you into a depressed state. Poverty definitely can take a toll on our mental health and well-being”.

Also speaking, a psychiatric nurse, Juliet Umeanave, said, “When we don’t have money we are sad and worried. Life circumstances can make one develop mental health issues.

“Hardship and poverty can be a major contributing factor to this. If a person cannot afford basic needs like food, shelter, or clothing, this can take a toll on his mental health especially when he works hard yet cannot meet his necessities. All these are contributory factors to depression. A lot of people are suffering from depression in the country now more than ever before”.

Our environment can alter our mental health. An unfavourable environmental condition can lead to depression and psychosis. Severe depression can cause the patient to contemplate suicide. Suicide is a mental illness.

*Suicides may increase, clinical psychologist warns

Nigerians could witness a possible increase in suicide cases in the country due to the rising number of depression cases caused by the prevailing economic hardship, a Clinical Psychologist at Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) and lecturer at College of Medicine, University of Lagos (UniLag), Dr Charles Umeh, has warned

Umeh sounded the warning while reacting to a question on the rising cases of mental illness in the country in recent times.

According to him, the inability of people to meet their needs and responsibilities as head of the family has piled pressure on them with some going into depression and if not properly managed on time could lead to people contemplating suicide.

“There are so many reasons people are suffering from depression, the cost of living could be one of them and there are other factors too.

“Mental illness of which depression is one of the factors that could trigger it. But first depression comes from the three negative trials – one is the negative thought of yourself, also about your environment, about your future.

“So, when you have negative thoughts that means you are caught in a web where there is no escape route, so that is how depression comes because there is no possible source of escape.”

However, Umeh took the discussion further as he dwelt on the negative effects of the high cost of living in the country on some individuals, which may eventually lead to mental illness.

“Now, let’s see the effects of the high cost of living in the country, on the people. Here is a father, as the head of the family, with several children, who are still in school, and he has to pay school fees and feed his family as well.

“Then the man suddenly realised that his salary could not carry these expenses in the face of a biting inflationary trend.

“If this man is engulfed by the thought of how a solution will come, if he is not careful at this juncture, he might be consumed by negative thoughts, and become irritated with his immediate environment thus losing interest in the future ahead. In this situation, he may be caught in the web of depression.

“Depression is characterised by the extent of sadness, loss of interest in things you usually enjoy, simply because you are consumed in this thought of survival when you don’t have any solution. So, that’s what most people are going through today”.

The clinical psychologist submitted that the acute economic situation has compounded the problems of many Nigerians already living below the poverty line, adding that as such, depression has set in for so many people.

“For instance, take a look at the pressure at home. It’s expected that you feed your family as the head of the family.  Then there is going to be pressure from your wife, and your kids. So, what do you do as a man?  And you are in a desperate situation to meet your needs.

“And there is a lot of negativity around you, so much negativity about your future. Then you begin to ask:  where do I go from here?

“You are still doing the same job, you are still on the same salary and your situation is not improving in any way. So, if you say the rising number of depression in the country is due to the rising inflation, yes that’s one of the factors.”

He, however, noted that this experience might not apply to everybody in the country.

“There are some people who may be enjoying this situation. It could be that they are in a vantage position and might not be feeling the economic crunch. This group of people are very few.

“But when we look at it: can the majority of Nigerians say they are enjoying the economic situation now?”

Source: This Nigeria Newspaper