More than 400 psychologists have been deployed in different health centers in the country, as a part of decentralizing mental health services to all Rwandans, according to Jean Damascene Iyamuremye the Director of Psychiatry care at Rwanda Biomedical Centre. “We wanted to prioritize mental health and make it accessible to people, these psychologists work every day, they do daily consultations, psycho-therapies and deal with trauma or patients with addiction problems, among others.” He said. “We have seen an increase in consultations where 200,000 psychological consultations are conducted every year, this shows that Rwandans have started understanding the importance of mental health, and they are starting to better take care of themselves mentally.” He added. Yvonne Uwamahoro, a psychologist at Mental Health Hub Rwanda welcomed the offering of these services at all health centers because it will help reach more Rwandans in dealing with mental health. “This initiative will help more people easily access mental health services, where it was impossible sometimes due to high costs of consultations or transport issues, or simply the fact that they were not aware of how important mental health is.” She said. Uwamahoro urges everyone to make use of these psychologists, by going for consultations but also help others who show signs of mental health problems in directing them to seek professional help. Cyprien Habimana, a mental health activist said that there is still more that needs to be done when it comes to mental health though the initiative is a big step forward “Some people are still reluctant to approach professionals because they fear they will be labeled as ‘crazy’ which sometimes leads to bigger problems like suicide, or depression because they did not seek the help they needed, but with the availability of more mental health professionals we hope people will seek and receive the help they need.” Habimana added.
