Mentally ill and psychopathic patients are among the most affected victims of the war and its outcomes, due to the neglect and disregard of society and the concerned authorities for their suffering and their increasing number.
Indicators of the intensification are evident - according to mental health specialists - in cases of night terrors, panic in children, post-traumatic stress disorder in adults, exacerbation of epilepsy in patients with seizures, in addition to the increase in social withdrawal.
All these types of psychopathic cases pass quietly amidst the crisis situation in Yemen, as these diseases are not only as result of the war - although the war has exacerbated its severity - but also as due to the wide spread of poverty, unemployment, and a long-time blockage of ambitions among a large proportion of citizens, especially the youth.
It is worth noting that there is no official statistics documenting the rate of the upsurge of psychopathic patients, but the World Health Organization estimated their numbers in Yemen, through a report issued last year, at about eight million people, in light of what it described as a “psychological crisis” in the country whose health system is suffering from an almost complete collapse.
Despite this huge number of psychiatric patients in Yemen, the number of public and private psychiatric clinics does not exceed seven, of which only two government facilities operate with very limited capacity; one of them is located in the city of Taiz, which is the most active, and the other is in the city of Aden, but it suffers from downtime from time to time.
A psychiatric hospital with poor operational capacity
The exterior of the building of Al-Noor Hospital for Psychiatric and Neurological Diseases, in the city of Al-Noor in the city of Taiz, suggests that it is a modern psychiatric facility, equipped with all medical needs and equipment, but the reality from the inside is quite the opposite. It lacks an integrated medical staff, as it employs only three psychiatrists, nurses, and two contractual workers, in addition to the nonexistence of the most basic facilities and services, such as medicine, food, clothing, water, hygiene, and other needs.
As a result, the humble staff, with such limited resources, struggles to provide the medical care available to about 185 psychiatric inpatients, divided into public and private sections, as well as the new Psychopaths who come for daily psychological treatment.
As part of its interest in shedding lights on such societal issues, "Khuyut" visited the psychiatric hospital to monitor its current conditions as the only non-stop government psychiatric hospital, according to the hospital administration.
However, the damages of the war are still visible on the building since it was bombed in November 2015, which resulted in the demolition of the outer wall and put some of its facilities out of service, including the (special women’s section), the (supplementary building), and the central laundry machine, according to the hospital director, Adel Mulhi.
Mulhi said in an interview with "Khuyut" that the damage to the wall hindered the hospital from providing a better service because it could have been developed to be more robust and higher, thus providing a safe and more free space for the inpatients to move inside instead of closing the rooms on them to prevent them from escaping.
The poor awareness - if not ignorance - of the symptoms of psychological conditions, and the belief of some people that the psychiatric patient suffers from satanic possession, prompts them to treat them by going to sheikhs or charlatans and swindlers, which exacerbates the deterioration of the patients’ condition and leads to more complications that make it difficult to be treated.
Available Services and Challenges
Regarding the nature of the service provided by the hospital to Psychopaths, Mulhi confirms that they provide available medicines, but they are incomplete due to the lack of government support or other assistance. In addition to that, the hospital provides meals, but it only covers 15% of the inmates, stressing that the hospital lacks clothes, hygiene services and water.
"If it weren't for the donations that extend to the hospital's inmates from the charitable people, the inpatients would have become naked, sleeping on the floor." Mulhi added in a sad tone.
Aside from these problems, there is another dilemma related to the Psychopaths' families who - according to a Mulhi statement - are not brought to the hospital at the beginning of their illness, when it is easier to treat, rather, they are brought when they reach late stages of disorder that are difficult to avoid, and thus turn them into unsafe creatures to themselves and to society.
“The parents bring the intense Psychopaths to the sanatorium, while the isolated mental patient, who has a higher potential of recovery, is not brought for treatment. This is one of the serious challenges we face in the hospital and in psychiatric treatment in general.” Mulhi said.
He added: The poor awareness - if not ignorance - of the symptoms of psychological conditions, and the belief of some people that the psychiatric patient suffers from satanic possession, prompts them to treat them by going to sheikhs or charlatans and swindlers, which exacerbates the deterioration of the patients’ condition and leads to more complications that make it difficult to be treated. Therefore, failure to deal with the Mental illness seriously, may lead to a deterioration in the patient’s condition and cause an increase in the severity of the sickness.”
After the psychiatric patient’s condition improves, based on the assessment of the specialized psychiatrist, the psychiatric patient is allowed to leave the hospital, according to Mulhi, who refers to a problem they face in this regard, related to the belief of some of the patient’s families that the psychiatric hospital is a refuge to get rid of the psychiatric patient and not to treat him/her.
Nutrition and treatment
For his part, Mohammad Taha, head of the hospital's nursing staff, confirmed to "Khuyut" that nutrition and treatment are the at top of the patient's recovery process, and this is what the hospital lacks because the allocated budget for it does not cover the needs of all inpatients.
"Psychological medications lead to a greater appetite for the patient, in addition to the importance of holding campaigns for health education and awareness at the general level, especially in a society such as the Yemeni society, which is unfamiliar of many causes and methods of dealing with mental illness. In addition to the behaviors that people may practice that exacerbate the situation of the mental patient, all of which are challenges we face in the absence of support." Taha explained.
Taha continued his talk about the challenges and risks faced by the hospital workers, saying: "The lives of the nurses are in danger, and the reason is due to the lack of adequate safety standards in the sanatorium to maintain their safety, whether these standards are related to safety tools or those related to awareness and educational programs that enhance the required consciousness among workers on how to deal in emergency situations."
Reasons and treatment
In turn, the hospital's psychiatrist, Hayat Qaid, attributes the increase in the number of mentally ill patients to the war, which had a major role in spreading many crises and traumas that cast a shadow on people's psyches and their mental endurance. In addition to society's ignorance of ways to deal with mental illness and its victims, and the obstacles related to dealing with the patient himself, who may refuse to take treatment, or continue to chew Qat, despite psychiatrists' warnings.
"Aggressive psychopaths must be treated in a special way, either by giving them chemical injections for three days until the state of hostility subsides, after which information is taken and the situation is diagnosed accurately". Hayat explained in her statement to Khuyut platform about the proper ways to deal with a mental patient.
