Dr. Olugbenga Owoeye, the Medical Director of the Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital, FNPH, Yaba, on Thursday stressed that the downturn in the country’s economy has negatively impacted the protective factors in mental health.

The medical director who spoke at the 6th Annual Research Conference Book of Abstracts themed: “Socio-economic Crisis & mental Health” by the Hospital listed the protective factors in mental health to include; social support, educational level, employment status, income, availability of mental health facilities and services, housing, transportation, and environmental conditions among others.

Olugbenga noted that the development has led to a significant worsening of mental heath populations.

He said: “Several studies have associated worsening socio-economic factors with increased prevalence of mental disorders and improvement in socio-economic indices with enhanced mental health of the populace. The Scandinavian countries are known to have better socio-economic indices and more improved mental health status than most countries in the world.”

Owoeye said is also little or no health insurance coverage for the most vulnerable leading to reduced access to mental healthcare for most Nigerians and restricted treatment options for the poor.