Mental health problems and service gaps experienced by pregnant adolescents and young women in Sub-Saharan Africa: A systematic review

COVID-19 Preventive Practices, Psychological Distress, and Reported Barriers to Healthcare Access during the Pandemic among Adult Community Members in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Phone Survey

“…19 Mental health challenges including psychological distress have been reported during the pandemic, likely due to increased isolation, continued inflation, job instability, substance use, poor health service provision, and economic instability. [20][21][22][23] Moreover, COVID-19 has also affected access to routine healthcare due to government mitigation measures such as travel bans and lockdowns, patients' fear of infection at health centers, and supply chain challenges. 24,25 Several previous studies early in the pandemic (in 2020) reported that substantial proportions of adults in SSA faced difficulty in accessing routine maternal and childcare services due to fear of contracting COVID-19, lockdowns, and service disruptions.…”

Psychosocial Supports Offered to People with Psychotic Disorders by Community Members in Temeke District, Tanzania

“…Unfortunately, only one third of them have access to a professional mental health service. Untreated mentally ill patients may suffer from a variety of health consequences that affect both the patients and their families (Mbatia andJenkins, 2010(Lasater et al, 2021;Mboya et al, 2020;Moran et al, 2020).The existing treatment gap has been said to be widening due to the lack of effective psychosocial assistance that improves mental health seeking behaviour and enhances treatment success (Tumbwene, et al, 2015;Essien & Asamoah, 2020;Mutahi et al, 2022;Papola et al, 2020). It is in this context that there is increasing re-hospitalization in the psychotic wards.…”

Self-harm and suicidal behaviours among pregnant adolescent girls and young women could be doubly compounded in sub-Saharan Africa: A call for further research

“…The recent systematic review by Mutahi and colleagues published in eClinicalMedicine 1 sought to synthesise available evidence on the mental health problems and service gaps experienced by pregnant adolescent girls and young women (aged 12–24 years) in sub-Saharan Africa. Among other findings, depression was the most frequently reported mental health problem, while mental health care for pregnant adolescent girls and young women (PAGYW) were characterised by poor health-care worker attitudes, lack of confidentiality, and lack of tailored services.…”

“…We provide a complementary perspective that continues the conversation about the mental health of PAGYW in sub-Saharan Africa. Notably, while evidence from the 18 eligible studies provided less than enough basis to address satisfactorily the key aims of the review, 1 it is even more concerning that only three (qualitative) studies have reported evidence on suicidal behaviours among PAGYW in sub-Saharan Africa between 2007 and 2020. 1 The dearth of studies on self-harm and suicidal behaviours among PAGYW in sub-Saharan Africa is troubling and as such warrants both initial and further research attention for at least four reasons: The rates of (unwanted) pregnancy among adolescent girls (aged 10–19 years) are higher in sub-Saharan Africa—nearly 1 in 5 adolescent girls experiences pregnancy and related maternal conditions 2 ; About 1·5 million adolescents live with HIV within sub-Saharan Africa, 6 in 7 new HIV infections in adolescents aged 15–19 years are among girls, and adolescent girls living with HIV in the subregion who have a pregnancy are at elevated risk of engaging in suicidal behaviours 3 , 4 ; Emerging evidence suggests (unwanted) teenage pregnancy as a contributor to suicidal and non-suicidal self-harm in adolescent girls and young women in sub-Saharan Africa 5 ; and Globally, suicide is the third leading cause of death in girls aged 15–19 years, after maternal conditions, while Africa records the highest rate of suicide (11·2 per 100 000 people).…”

“…We underscore as critical the review's evidence that depression is the most frequently reported mental health problem in PAGYW in sub-Saharan Africa. 1 This evidence could be pointing to a need for future studies to examine self-harm and suicidal behaviours among PAGYW in the subregion, as depression underlies more than half of all deaths by suicide. 9 While we reaffirm the authors’ recommendation that future quantitative studies seeking to contribute valid estimates should consider applying validated psychological scales, 1 we also wish to add that future studies should consider carefully where they approach PAGYW to participate in research.…”