Title: How common are mental health problems?
Course: Non-Communicable Diseases, Emergency Care and Mental Health Part 2 - Ethiopia (Full)

How common are mental health problems?

People often think that a person with mental illness is someone who speaks nonsense, is unpredictable and behaves in strange or bizarre ways. But people with mental illness are not different to other 'ordinary' people. They are ordinary people with a condition. Evidence also tells us that people with mental illness are no more violent or dangerous than people that have malaria or back pain (Figure 10.2).

Figure 10.2 A healthworker speaking to someone who may have a mental disorder.

Mental disorders are relatively common in every community. For every ten people that you see on your house-to-house visits, at least one will have some form of mental health problem. For every 50 adults that you see in your house-to-house visits, one will have an SMI. You will also come across individuals with an SMI who are chained (see Figure 10.3), neglected or not well looked after. This means that every encounter you have is an opportunity to screen for mental disorder. For the most part, assessing for the presence of mental disorders is not too difficult and your skills will improve with experience.

Figure 10.3 A person with an SMI who was kept chained in his village for two years.