Prevalence of Mental Illness among Youths in Ogun State, Southwest Nigeria

Abstract

Mental health issues continue to be a serious public health concern, affecting people's wellbeing and ability to operate, despite advances in research and raised awareness. Mental illness imposes a substantial public health burden, affecting individuals, families and communities at large. Mental disorders are often stigmatized, leading to discrimination, social exclusion and in worse case, suicide. This stigma prevents individuals from seeking help and hinders the provision of appropriate support. Based on this premise this study investigated the prevalence of mental illness among youths in Ogun State, Nigeria. Biopsychosocial Model, Cognitive-Behavioral Theory (CBT), Psychodynamic theory, Social Learning Theory and The Stress-Diathesis Model were used as the framework. The survey design of the descriptive correlational typed was adopted. The population of the study were 225 nurses at Federal Neuro-psychiatric Hospital, Aro, Abeokuta North, Federal Neuro-psychiatric Hospital, Annex, Lantoro, and Abeokuta South and Edijalo Health Service Limited Abeokuta North, Ogun State and total enumeration was used as the sampling technique. Questionnaire was the instrument used with a reliability of (α= 0.761). The data were analysed using descriptive statistics, mean and standard deviation. From the characteristics of the respondents, the majority of respondents were female (85%), Diploma had the highest number for qualification (52%), 42.7% were NO2 . The prevalence of mental illness among youths is Severe (x=3.53) and patients were between 18-40 years. The most prevalent type of mental illness among youths was Schizophrenia and Substance use disorder moderately (x=2.72), The study concluded that the prevalence of mental illness among youths in Ogun State has been assessed as severe, indicating a significant level of mental health issues among this demographic.