Advocate for mental health than fueling negative issues of mental health - Actress urges Ghanaians

An Actress and a commercial model, Deborah N. Diamond has appealed to the Ghanaian media to be an agent of advocacy in mental health issues and raise awareness about these critical issues which need an urgent solution than obtaining traffic on their media outlets.

Her wake-up call is a result of the current situation of Miss Abena Korkor who has been diagnosed with a mental health problem, a bipolar disorder which her reflexes led her to release nude photos of herself on social media causing a standstill on Twitter yesterday.

According to the Actress, Mental health in Ghana has been taken for granted and a lot of people are intrigued when victim's unrest hits social media with unusual actions which seek to degrade their integrity and image regardless of the disorder.

“Mental issues are very important and Ghana must pay keen attention to it. Whenever there are such situations, people are always content since it generates a lot of conversation on various media outlets and also causes traffic to the various blogs. But this is the time and moment, we need to discourage such incessant porous attitudes and show the victims love, and sympathy because it could be any one of us,” she said.

Miss Diamond stressed that the media must be an agent of change by using their medium to advocate for rigorous mental health education for people to understand the magnitude of such mental issues and this would discourage the intriguing interest of many who delights in the mental reflexes of these victims seizing the opportunity to cash on such situation.

“Our actions as public contribute hugely to her condition. We micromanage her condition and trigger her actions in diverse ways. This is because most people, precisely men, take advantage of her mental condition making their way out of her and hence turn around to stigmatize her. We must show these people love and affection since we are in a humanitarian society” Miss Diamond added.

The actress noted that the section 280 of the criminal code of Ghana outlaws any obscene publication which includes nudity, therefore, the media, especially YouTubers, bloggers should not take advantage to generate money from an individual’s health issues but rather advocacy should be an integral part of ensuring that mental health education goes down to all people in the country.

Miss Diamond however urged the Ghana Health Service to intensify their campaign on mental health and find an unsurpassed solution for victims for their relief to be accepted in the society. Celebrating World Mental Health day would be meaningless unless people in such critical condition welfare are well-managed and addressed.

She also urged the families, colleagues, and the entire nation to support Abena Korkor Addo, Funny Face, and other notable people who have been diagnosed with mental health problems to ensure their safety and also protect their integrity.