Dr. Ama Kyerewaa Edwin, a Physician Clinical Psychologist, Bioethicist at the University of Ghana Medical Centre (UGMC), has said that in combating any pandemic there is the need for Psychologist to help.
According to Dr. Edwin, pandemics or outbreaks can cause Psychologcal problems because of how people see it and talk about it.
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Speaking in a panel discussion which was aired live on Happy FM on the Happy Morning Show with Samuel Eshun, Dr. Edwin said “Psychologists are a vital part in fighting any pandemic and they shouldn’t be left out because we have a pandemic which is a medical and public health problem. It’s also a psychological problem because of how people see it and how people talk about it. Even the lockdown in Ghana we are all talking about, one may not adhere to it, it might be a psychological problem which a psychologist can help.”
In February, the Minority caucus, in the wake of the outbreak in China, gave the government of Ghana a 3-day ultimatum to evacuate Ghanaian students who were locked up in China, to a less coronavirus-prone area or back to Ghana.
But Dr. Edwin revealed how she came in to help Ghanaian students in China at the time that families and individuals were calling for evacuation. “Initially, in Ghana psychologists were left out of the picture but they are involved now. That is what the mission in China did and they are surviving, I remember when Amb. Boateng spoke to me and told me the students needed a psychologist, the mission saw the need and I came in and it was a time they wanted to be evacuated but upon frequent discussions they saw the need to remain in China and they stayed. If you don’t manage the stress it can hurt you.”
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Dr. Edwin’s assertion on the need to involve psychologists comes on the back of a recent spike in numbers of coronavirus cases in Ghana.