Stress, cause of rampant killings - Dr. Akwasi Osei

The Chief Executive of the Mental Health Authority, Dr Akwasi Osei, has said the recent cases of murder allegedly committed by some perceived mentally challenged persons in parts of the country cannot be linked to the recent decongestion of some psychiatric hospitals.

He, however, attributed the cases to possible stress among Ghanaians.

The latest case was at Assin Krofuom in the Central Region where a man believed to be mentally deranged butchered his entire family with a machete.

Dr Osei, speaking to Class News, said there was the need for people to be educated on mental health and how to identify depression.

“…It is not our patients, who have been on the streets causing the havoc that we are seeing; that is a different phenomenon all together.

“What I believe is happening is, there seems to be a lot of distress and stress among Ghanaians in their communities. It easily triggers some form of anger and some untoward reactions.

“It all points to the fact that we have a lot of mental health problems in the society and we need to take systematic steps to be able to address these issues, otherwise what we are seeing will even worsen heading towards the future.”