Vital services for thousands of needy Rwandans living with serious mental illness are likely to be compromised if the government fails to clear a bill accumulated over the past few years.

Traumatized patient being carried (PTSD) POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER a common mental health disorder in Rwanda.

These services include community and hospital-based psychiatric care, housing and access to medications.

The mentally ill, who have nowhere to go and find little sympathy from those around them, often land hard in emergency rooms, county jails and city streets. The lucky ones find homes with family. The unlucky ones show up in the morgue.

Patients and their advocates say the country’s mental health system has been sinking into non-existence by the day due to neglect.

Mental illness could be detected as early as adolescence or young adulthood. Left untreated, mental illness can rob people of decades of health.

Mental illness affects us all for it costs the country not only financial but also human resources. The bulk of the cost to society stems from disability payments and lost productivity. That total does not include caregivers’ lost earnings or taxpayers money that goes into institutions that at one time or another host mental patients.

These losses are especially tragic, because of growing evidence that early intervention can prevent mentally ill people from deteriorating. By neglecting mental patients, we end up paying in the most expensive way: Lifelong support.

While there is competition for limited government resources, failure to provide adequate funding for mental illness will ultimately increase the burden on the country.

Rather than save the country money, inadequate financing simply shifts responsibility to emergency rooms, community hospitals, law enforcement agencies, correctional facilities and shelters for the homeless.

Limited financing of mental health care also has an impact on public safety. As a whole, people living with mental illness are no more violent than the rest of the population. In fact, these individuals are far more frequently the victims of violence than the perpetrators of violent acts.

However, the risks of violence among a small subset of individuals may increase when appropriate treatment and support are not available. The use of alcohol or drugs as a form of self medication can also increase these risks.

With appropriate services, people living with serious mental illness can and do achieve recovery and independence in their lives. By contrast, lack of services often fosters worsened conditions and adverse consequences that cost communities dearly.