Marijuana, alcohol abuse fuel mental health cases in Dormaa

Hard drugs and alcohol abuse among young adults in the Dormaa Central and Dormaa East, has become a huge bother as mental health cases in the two districts surge.

Within a space of eight months, a total of 56 people at Amasu, a farming community in Dormaa Central, and Wamfie, in Dormaa East, are reported to have suffered mental disorders from marijuana use and excessive in-take of akpeteshie, a local liquor.

The patients, a significant proportion of them girls, are aged between 17 and 23 years.

This came to light when “Mission of Hope Society” (MIHOSO), a non-governmental organization, undertook a day’s monitoring exercise in the two communities, as part of a mental health project it is implementing in the area.

The NGO has been at the forefront of providing care for the patients.

At the Wamfie Holy Ghost Church and Prayer Camp, where 23 mentally sick people had been sent for treatment, the Founder, Pastor Kwadwo Ansu, said apart from the problem with the narcotic drug and alcoholism, the growing rate of divorce in the area was also a major challenge.

People whose marriages were in crisis, especially women, he indicated, had been struggling with depression.

He spoke of the difficulty of feeding and clothing the patients and appealed for support by way of food and clothing donation.

The church was now engaged in the construction of a housing project to give decent accommodation to the patients.

At Amasu, Mr. Ismaela Baah Abdulai, a care-giver, hailed MIHOSO for the tremendous support it was giving towards the upkeep of the mentally ill.

He called for the law enforcement agencies to up their game to bring down hard drugs peddling in the area.

There should also be a stepped up public education to persuade the young people from taking to binge drinking and drugs use, he added.