Mental illnesses increasing

THE number of mentally ill patients in Papua New Guinea ranging from early as 13 years old is mainly caused by depression and drug use, says an official.
Laloki Psychiatric Hospital chief executive officer Dr Losavati Daugunu said the number of mental disorders in the country had increased.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) in 2020, the most common causes of admissions in hospitals was depression.
She said there were different issues associated with mental health such as lifestyle, economic crisis, poverty, family issues and peer pressure.
Daugunu said in Papua New Guinea, the common age group range that was impacted by mental illness was between 15 and 29.
She said this was a concern as this age range comprised a large percentage of the workforce in the coming decades.
She said the statistics was from Laloki alone as other centres did not have such statistics.
Daugunu said there were lot of comments on social media about the services Laloki hospital was providing and the funding issues at the facility.
She said the mentioned issues had not significantly impacted its operations.
Meanwhile, Daugunu said the hospital’s water supply project was nearing completion. She said the project would improve the facility’s services and allow them to increase patient numbers again.
Laloki currently has 20 patients in the hospital.
The hospital has a limited number of patients due to funding issues and restrictions caused by Covid-19.