Societal attitudes to mental illness: The need for change.

Mental (psychiatric) illness can be defined as a medical disorder whereby an individual experiences mild to severe disturbances in either of his or her thinking, perception, feeling (emotion) and behaviour, which can significantly impair the person's ability to cope with life's ordinary demands and routines such as ability to work, to get along with others, and to enjoy life. On the other hand, attitudes are our likes and dislike i.e. our favourable or unfavourable …

…as a whole. These are the challenges that we face as individuals and a nation. Hope only lies in reality rather than rumours and old traditional believes that has failed the test of modern scientific findings. We should remove stigma and myth from mental illness and recognise it as a treatable medical condition like any other medical illness. Here lies hope and prospects for a better future for mental illness and its sufferers in Nigeria.