With all
the
violence
and
chaos in
Somalia,
anyone
could go
crazy.
The near
daily
fighting
has
taken
its toll
on the
mental
health
of its
people.
The
evidence
of this
can be
found
almost
everywhere,
as most
of
Somalia’s
mentally
ill are
either
simply
chained
to beds
or left
to roam
the
streets,
leaving
them
with
permanent
trauma
and
physical
injuries.
Somalia
has one
of the
world’s
highest
rates of
mental-health
disorders.
An
estimated
one-third
of its
eight
million
people
are
affected
by some
kind of
mental
illness,
yet
there
are only
three
trained
psychiatrists
in the
entire
country
to care
for them,
according
to the
World
Health
Organisation.
“Degrading
and
dangerous
cultural
practices
such as
being
restrained
with
chains
are not
only
widespread
but also
socially
and
medically
accepted,”
the WHO
said in
a recent
study of
Somalia’s
mental
health
care.
