Tema-Ghana, Aug. 03, GNA – The Tema Metropolitan Office of Social Welfare and Community Development has sensitised students of the Manhean Secondary Technical School on mental and sexual reproductive health to enable them to seek help when the need arises.
The programme, organised in collaboration with the YAH-Salem Foundation, a non-governmental organisation, was on the theme: “Mental Health is a Universal Human Right.”
The students were educated on the signs of mental illness, the types, causes, habits to improve mental health, sexual reproductive issues, what age a person can start having sex, and coping mechanisms against early sex initiation.
They asked questions on double use of condoms, contraceptives, and how to abstain from sex, among other things.
Mrs Mary Adu Sarfo, the Executive Director, YAH-Salem, said the sensitisation was the first in a series of programmes outlined for seven senior high schools within the Tema catchment area.
It was necessitated by the increase in spousal abuse and killings, which she believed were strongly linked to mental illness.
It was, therefore, important the youth received information on identifying any mental abnormalities, their effect, and how to seek help, she said.
Mr Innocent Funn, the National Clinical Psychologist for the SOS Children’s Village, said some of the symptoms of mental health were hallucinations, suicidal tendencies, sensations on the skin and other parts of the body, and being homicidal.
Touching on the causes of mental illness, he said they included genetic; if one’s parent suffered from depression, there was a high likelihood of a child inheriting it.
Environmental exposure before and after birth could expose the child to some mental illnesses, while altered chemistry in the brain could also be a cause.
Mr Funn said traumatic experiences such as sexual abuse, childhood neglect, life-threatening events, natural disasters, system-induced trauma, violence, bullying, and the death of a loved one were also some of the causes.
Mr Reginald Ankrah, a Social Development Officer, Tema Social Welfare, told the Ghana News Agency that the Department realised that teenage pregnancy cases from the Manhean Community were rising, hence the need to educate the students on it.
Most of the girls who got pregnant and realised they could not take care of their babies after birth either left them with their relatives or abandoned them at the health facilities, which were often referred to the Department, he said.
It was important to educate the girls to abstain instead of engaging in sexual activities when they lacked the ability to face the consequences, Mr Ankrah said.
