Public Perception and Attitude towards Mental Illness in Otukpo Town of Benue State

Abstract

Background: Interventions aimed at management and rehabilitation of mental sickness should consider the perception and attitude of the public towards the sickness. This is because the attitude of the public towards the mentally sick is important in recovery outcome.

Aims: To analyze the attitude of the public towards mental illness and other issues involved.

Method: the study utilized a cross-sectional descriptive study using a simple random sampling to elicit data through administering a questionnaire to 150 respondents drawn from Otukpo town, Benue State, Nigeria.

Results: The result of the study revealed that there is a poor attitude towards those having mental sickness, as 65.3% would not have a mentally sick person as a co-tenant. The result also showed that 97.7% of the respondents would not marry a man/woman that has mental illness. Again, 47.7% of the respondents prefer taking their mentally ill relatives to spiritual centres for cure. Furthermore, 62.7% of the respondents identified substance abuse as their major cause of mental illness.

Conclusion: There is a need for educational programmes about the causes and treatment of mental sickness in the study area.