Journal Article

Study of Depression Indices amongst In-Patients at Federal Neuro Psychiatric Hospital, Kaduna – Nigeria

Abstract

Depression is a common mental disorder that lowers mood, loss of interest or pleasure, decreased energy, feelings of guilt low self-worth, disturbed sleep, appetite and poor concentration. Depression contributes significantly to the global burden of diseases and affects people in all communities across the world. Records of 112 in-patients at the Federal Neuro Psychiatric Hospital Barnawa Kaduna was studied for a period of four years in which the characteristics of patients and the level of mental depression affecting the patients was considered. This research work measures the level of depression in males and females with respect to their marital status and statistical procedures were to investigate if there is significant variation in the reported cases of mental depression across age groups. The analysis carried out reveals that depression in male and female is dependent on marital status. Crammer’s V shows that the relationship between occupation and gender is moderately correlated and Kruskal-Wallis test show that there’s no statistical significance in the distribution of age across years. Based on the analysis carried out we recommend that government and all other relevant agencies should put extra effort in creating awareness and enlighten the general public on the causes and trends of mental illness in general. Government should also provide facilities in various health centers in order to aid the work of health practitioners; more effort should be put to health education and counseling. Family members and loved ones also were found to have played a large role in curbing the menace, by helping the individual control the negative thoughts and creating a supportive home environment.

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