Former Senator Sylvia Kasanga shares her depression journey, the future of Mental Health in Kenya

As the world marks Mental Health day 2022, patients in Kenya continue to suffer for lack of awareness, adequate infrastructure, medical personnel and finances to tackle the ‘silent killer.’

Mental health disorders include depression, anxiety, stress, panic, obsessive compulsory disorder (OCD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), bipolar disorder among others.

This year, the theme of the World Mental Health day is; make mental health and well-being for all a global priority.

But Mental Health in Kenya would only be given the much attention it requires by having an act that directs how the government can approach it by having relevant policies and personnel in place.

Challenged by her personal journey and discussions with stakeholders, Former Nominated Senator, Architect Sylvia Kasanga in 2018 embarked on a journey to have a bill in parliament that will see Kenya prioritise mental health in the County and National government level.

Former President Uhuru Kenyatta assented the Mental Health (Amendment) Act, leading to its gazettement on June 21, 2022. A mental health board was then put in place, and will be commissioned by the Minister for Health.

Journey to being Mental Health Champion

Kasanga, a trained and practicing architect told Citizen Digital she has had a personal experience with mental disorders.

The architect said she visited doctors, seeking cure for other conditions, without knowing that she was mentally unwell.

“I have been treated for anxiety and depression. The kind of work that I do as an architect is very stressful. At one point in my career I experienced depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress, I was treated through therapy,” Kasanga said.  

She says that what started as constant headaches turned into sleepless nights, whose cause she could not explain until her doctor asked her to see a psychologist.

“I remember telling my doctor I do not need to see a psychologist, I am OK. It is after several months of lack of sleep and not wanting to go back to hospital is when I called a friend and they introduced me to a psychologist.”

Kasanga, who now identifies as a mental health champion came out of the condition strong after 3 months of therapy and learnt to be self-aware.

“I dance when I have some time, mingle with people, those are some of the thing that help. There is an importance in being able to speak out, create a safe haven for yourself,” she said.

When she joined the 12th parliament as a nominated Senator, she had learnt more about mental health from stakeholders and the awareness also prompted her to introduce the Mental Health (Amendment) Bill of 2020.

“I said Kenyans need to know this, they need to understand it. How best? Look into the laws. My research showed me a glaring gap in mental health in Kenya.”

Insurance on mental health patients

There have been gaps in coverage of mental health patients by the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) and other private insurance premium providers.

However, this will no longer be the case when Ministry of Health implements the mental health (Amendment) Act.

The act dictates that a health insurance company shall not discriminate against a person living with mental illness or subject them to unfair treatment in obtaining the necessary insurance cover.

A person with mental illness shall have the right of access to medical insurance from public of private health insurance providers.

“NHIF must cover mental health, and not in a discriminatory manner. It must cover all Kenyans equally, and make sure they access best quality of drugs,” Kasanga explains. 

The Mental Health act requires the National Government to provide necessary resources for the provision of mental healthcare and treatment at national referral health facilities.

It is also mandated to work with County Governments in developing physical infrastructure, for care and rehabilitation, expand community and family-based care support systems for persons with mental illness and also put in place mechanisms to ensure rights of such persons are realized.

The Mental Health Board at the national government level will give guidelines for counties to follow, regulation, receive data to analyse so as to give recommendations and help in capacity building.

“My first task is to touch base with the Council of Governors. I wrote a letter to them, notifying them that we have an act of parliament and now as they are busy preparing their plans, it is important to have budget plans and programs for mental health,” Kasanga said.  

In a bid to fight stigma, Kasanga adds that County Governments can integrate mental health in level three and four hospitals by ensuring there are mental health practitioners in the facilities.

Community Awareness and property management

There is need to create awareness on mental health issues in each community, and for Kasanga, this is the first step towards ensuring mental health is addressed at county levels.

“It will help in fighting stigma and disseminating information. What causes stigma in mental health is the lack of understanding and lack of knowing. We can use community health workers to fight the stigma by starting this conversation.”

During the interactions, community health workers will also enable prevention of mental health cases or ensure that cases that arise can be dealt with early enough through therapy, as opposed to medication in severe cases.

The act also seeks to address administration of the property of persons with mental illness to ensure family members or relevant communities do not take advantage of patients in such situations.

In case of such incapacitation, an application and affidavit shall be presented in court to show grounds on which the management and administration of property is transferred. This shall be accompanied by a true copy of hospital admission or treatment particulars.

This will guide the court on the property administration after examining them or having it done by a qualified and registered health practitioner.