Zambia Army Mèntal Health Therapist, Warrant Officer Richard Kangwa, has called on the nation to treat mental health awareness with the same urgency and dedication as preaching the gospel.
Speaking during a recent community outreach event, Warrant Officer Kangwa emphasized that many of the strange and disturbing trends in society — including d£filement, gènder-based viòlence, críme, dr@g abuse, g@mbling, alc0holism, and other social vices can be linked to unaddressed mèntal health issues.
“Mental health is rarely talked about. In most communities, people either don’t understand it or associate it only with madness, which is far from the truth. Mental health is a wide and important subject that affects everyone,” Kangwa said.
He stressed the need to take mèntal health education into communities, workplaces, schools, churches, and all sectors of society.
“If we raise awareness and educate people on mèntal health, we can begin to see real change,” he added.
Kangwa’s message comes at a time when Zambia is seeing a rise in social challenges, many of which experts believe are rooted in untreated psychòlògical and emotional issues.