Mental health experts and lawmakers have raised alarm over rising cases of depression, anxiety, substance abuse and suicide among children and adolescents in Uganda, warning that academic pressure, family instability and limited mental health services are worsening the crisis.
The concerns were raised during Mental Health Awareness Month activities organised in Kampala by the Uganda Parliamentary Forum on Mental Health.
Psychologists, legislators and mental health advocates called for urgent government intervention to protect children’s mental wellbeing.
Christopher Komakech, Vice Chairperson of the Parliamentary Forum and Parliamentary Chapter on Mental Health, warned that Uganda risks a national disaster if the crisis is ignored.
“We are sitting on a time bomb,” Komakech said. “A child in baby class telling you they are stressed should worry every Ugandan.”
Komakech criticised school routines that force children to wake up as early as 4am and spend hours commuting before classes begin, saying lack of sleep is negatively affecting children’s brain development and emotional wellbeing.
“The younger you are, the more sleep you need. How do you make a seven-year-old survive on six hours of sleep all in the name of education?” he asked.
He blamed the growing crisis on economic hardship, parenting pressures and an education system that places excessive pressure on children at an early age.
Komakech also questioned the shortage of mental health professionals in schools and health facilities.
“How many schools have psychologists? How many health centres have psychologists?” he asked.
Lawmakers said Uganda allocates only about one percent of the national health budget to mental health services despite an estimated 14 million Ugandans living with mental health conditions.
They also revealed that the country has only 14 psychiatrists serving nearly 48 million people, with most specialists concentrated in urban areas.
Parliamentarians further said Butabika National Referral Mental Hospital is overwhelmed, with wards designed for 80 patients currently accommodating more than 200 people at a time.
Mental health advocates said children and adolescents are increasingly affected, with rising cases of depression, anxiety, drug abuse and suicide being reported across the country.
Faith Agumya, Uganda’s representative to the African Suicide Prevention Association, said at least 17 adolescents died by suicide during the recent examination results period.
“As I speak, just this year during the results week, we recorded about 17 suicide deaths of adolescents,” Agumya said.
She said the figures were compiled through networks involving police officers, Local Council leaders and suicide prevention partners across the country.
Agumya warned that suicide cases are often reported without addressing the deeper causes behind them.
“People report suicide by simply saying a student got bad results and took their life, yet suicide is the end result of deeper problems,” she said.
“There are triggers like depression, stress, abuse and identity crises that are usually ignored.”
She also raised concern about the stigma surrounding suicide, saying affected families are often isolated instead of being supported.
Agumya renewed calls for the decriminalisation of attempted suicide, arguing that fear of arrest discourages vulnerable young people from seeking help.
“Some young people tell us they want to make sure they die because if they survive, they will have to answer to police,” she said.
Mental health specialists at Butabika Hospital also reported a sharp rise in the number of patients seeking treatment, especially among young people.
James Roger Nsereko, Principal Clinical Psychologist at Butabika Hospital, said mental health cases at the facility have nearly doubled in recent years.
“The numbers have gone to almost 200 percent, which really shows that the situation is alarming,” Nsereko said.
He partly blamed the increase on substance abuse, noting that many young people turned to drugs such as marijuana during the Covid-19 lockdown before developing addiction and psychosis.
“Today we are seeing many cases of substance use, with people developing psychosis,” he said.
Nsereko also criticised excessive academic pressure, saying competition among schools and parents has created unhealthy learning environments.
“Some learners do not sleep because they are constantly reading, yet lack of sleep affects brain processes and can breed mental illness,” he said.
He added that family instability remains one of the leading causes of mental health disorders among children and adolescents.
“In psychiatry and mental health, we say about 70 percent of mental health conditions originate from the family,” he explained.
Nsereko cited domestic violence, parental neglect, separation, bereavement and excessive parental expectations as major contributors to anxiety and depression among children.
Mental health activists also criticised the limited mental health infrastructure in regional referral hospitals.
Moses Mugisha Okwera, Director of Mental Health and Reproductive Health Uganda, said the country has only one Alcohol and Drug Abuse Unit despite rising addiction cases.
“In the entire country, we have only one Alcohol and Drug Abuse Unit at Butabika, while regional referral hospitals do not have such units,” Okwera said.
He urged Parliament to support the establishment of specialised addiction treatment centres in regional hospitals and also called for the recruitment of professional counsellors in schools.
“Teachers teach subjects like physics, but many are not trained counsellors,” he said.
“Children are suffering because there are no professional counsellors in schools.”