Harsh weather, economic distress worsening mental health - Experts

Loss and displacement as a result of worsening economic conditions and extreme weather events such as floods are increasing mental health problems in Uganda according to mental health experts.

“There’s no better time than now for all of us to collectively embrace the agenda of mental health integration. This is because the triggers of depression are written on the wall. From extreme weather, we are seeing people losing their houses, losing their businesses, losing their gardens. We’ve seen this in the past few weeks,” Ms Milly Katana, a public health specialist and chairperson board of directors of Strong Minds Uganda says.

Speaking during the Mental Health Summit organised by Strong Minds Uganda in collaboration with United States Agency for International Development (USAID) on April 29 in Kampala, Ms Katana appealed to Ugandans to join hands in increasing awareness about prevention of mental ill health and advocating for zero discrimination against the affected persons.

Strong Minds is a social enterprise founded in 2013 that treats depression in low-income women and adolescents in Africa and the Americas.

Experts agree that there is an urgent need for concerted efforts to address the drivers of mental health problems and provide solutions to those affected.

“Do we think these people stay in the same mental health state when their houses are wiped away by floods? No. We are seeing domestic instabilities, which are affecting people’s mental well-being. The economic hardships all of us go through. Unemployment, substance use and misuse. And none of us is immune to all these triggers,” adds Katana.

Statistics emerging from the summit, 239,672 people were treated for depression in 2023 alone, more than all the numbers handled in the previous years combined.


Focus on Recovery Uganda managing partner, Mr Albert Elwa, revealed that access to mental health services in the country is still a big challenge in Uganda because of limited staff in (public) health facilities and limited infrastructure.

“We must prioritise mental health in our national agenda. We need to invest in mental health services and train more mental health professionals. We need to address drivers of mental health problems such as poverty,” he said.

Dr Kenneth Kalani, a psychiatrist at the Health ministry, said mental health problems can result from isolated (inconsistent) reactions to “stressful circumstances in life such as hardship in accessing basic needs such as food and other social welfare such as paying school fees.”

Dr Hasfa Lukwata, the acting assistant commissioner for the mental health division at the Health ministry said during the summit in Kampala on April 29 that although they don’t have a specific national survey to show the exact prevalence of mental health problems and mental illnesses, there are (small) studies they use to estimate the burden.

Dr Lukwata said that integration of mental health intervention is top on their agenda.

“We know that in every part of whatever we do, wherever we are, we all need to have good mental health,” she added.