More needs to be done about mental health : Suicide and murder cases becoming a menace

Mental health is an issue that Kenya needs to take more
seriously. People of different age groups have killed themselves for varying
reasons.

A mother killed herself after the daughter threated to commit
suicide if she failed to join form one due to lack of school fees. Recently, a college
student swallowed excess pills leading to her death because her boyfriend
cheated on her and rubbed it in her face, posting photos of the other girl.

A young woman in Nyalenda, Kisumu killed herself after her
aunt asked her about lunch money, which she had used to buy chapati and beans.

The latest murder is about an AP officer Patrick Apala in Navakholo
shooting her lover Catherine Mahonga at Duka Moja on Thursday night.

The list is long not forgetting men and women who have
killed their families using different methods before killing themselves.

This raises the question why are people turning to murder
and suicide to solve life problems? A person does not just wake up and decide
to kill oneself or another human being.

It is something an individual contemplates. He or she has thought
about it and considered it as a means to end the pain.

We focus so much on bodily health that we forget the importance
of mental health. The mind controls the body. If the mind is struggling to understand
life occurrences, it is likely to tell the body to react in a way that is not
good.

 It is high time
public hospitals hired psychologists to help many Kenyans who are battling
mental issues. People are too busy with their lives that they do not have time
to listen to other people’s problems or be kind to them.

When we have professionals at hospitals to help people open
up about problems, we are creating a proactive society that thinks critically
before acting.

Suicide and murder is not the answer to struggles in life. If
you kill someone, you become a murderer and go to prison. You commit suicide and
leave behind families and friends in pain. Mental health is important. Mental problems
are real and ignoring them does not help the situation.