Dr Osei advocates counselling for all SHS students amid coronavirus fears

The Chief Executive Officer of the Mental Health Authority, Dr Akwasi Osei, has asked the government and the Ghana Education Service (GES) to provide counselling for students following the spread of the Coronavirus in some senior high schools.

He said told Alfred Ocansey on the Sunrise morning show on 3FM on Thursday that COVID-19 has brought mental stress to a lot of people, a situation that requires the assistance of metal health practitioners to help deal calm nerves of the students and Ghanaians, in general.

Dr Osei was contributing to a discussion on the rising cases of Covid-19 among SHS students and the possible psychological effect it has on the entire student body.

He further noted that many are Ghanaians are stressed following exaggeration of the pandemic in their minds.

“We are in a situation where we are all going through stress in one way or the other. We are going through psychological distress in various categories.

“We are confronted with an illness, this very illness we have not seen it before and the sense of it is still developing.

“So far what many people know of is the fact that it is easy to contract, it is easy to die from it, and there is no treatment.

“These are all true to some extent but it goes to a certain exaggeration in our minds and it is the exaggeration that is causing the fear and panic.

“That fear and panic is also affecting many other conditions. We may realize that somebody has a disease which might not be Covid-19 but how do you know that it is not Covid?”

He added: “How do we calm our verves down? This is where we need to recognize the crucial need of our mental healthcare.

“We need to get a lot more of mental health practitioners so that we send them to various places. I expect that all the healthcare practitioners attached to the schools should have basic knowledge in counseling, which they can give to the students. Every school should have the opportunity to have a counsellor.”