Mental health advocate and social media influencer, Abena Korkor, says she has been doing enormous works with the World Health Organisation (WHO) to upgrade mental health institutions across the country.

In an interview on Adom FM’s Ofie Kwanso show last Friday, she indicated that apart from her radio and TV advocacy, she is also working with top institutions to see to it that mental health is prioritised in the country.

According to her, mental health as a subject is hardly taken into consideration in Ghana, with many associating it with “madness”. She added that, mental health laws don’t work in Ghana; tagging it as a dangerous situation that has been left unattended.

With this, she added that her little way of changing the narrative is by opening a mental health group and embark on several radio and TV tours to educate as many people as she can on the subject.

On 30 March, which is World Bipolar Day, she said she will embark on an initiative to hold conferences if possible to extend the knowledge she has on the mental health field.

I have a mental health support group. I started radio and TV advocacy. I have been on Joy, Joy Prime and Adom FM. I am doing bipolar talks … World bipolar day is 30 March…I have been doing research with WHO on how to upgrade the psychiatric hospitals in Ghana. We went to almost all the psychological units in Ghana.

Talking about upholding the rights of mental health patients in Ghana, Abena Korkor, said: The people who have mental health issues, their rights are infringed upon it… when I was working with TV3, I did something on social media that they didn’t like and they just ended my contract… that alone is an emotional trigger for me but mental health laws don’t work so I didn’t know where to go… you can take people to court for robbery but the mental health laws don’t work here.

Now I want to study global mental health and not law because the pains I went through I don’t want others to go through the same, she said.

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