CHAPTER 12- CONCEPTUALISING MENTAL HEALTH WELLBEING AND ECONOMIC GROWTH IN NIGERIA                298                                                                                                                                                                   
Benneth Uchenna EZE
Adebayo AZEEZ
Festus EKECHI
                                                                               
Cite this chapter
APA

Eze, B. U., Azeez, A., Ekechi, F. (2023). Chapter 12 Conceptualising Mental Health Wellbeing and Economic Growth in Nigeria. In B. L. Salvador Bizotto (Ed.), Academic Research & Reviews in Social, Human, and Administrative Sciences-III- (pp. 298-310). Ankara, Türkiye: Global Academy Publishing House. https://dx.doi.org/10.59740/academy.50

Introduction
An increasing amount of research supports the connection between indicators of economic success and mental health. This is a result of the understanding that, in addition to increasing real per capita income, financial stability, and resilience, economic growth may also improve a household's well-being by reducing stress (Davlasheridze et al., 2018; Aguila et al.,2016). Using a western viewpoint on mental health, Christensen et al. (2020) made reference to the traditional syndromes of mental diseases. This viewpoint predominated in Africa in the formally established mental health system that provided care for the mentally sick. It placed a focus on identifying instances that could be identified using the standard psychiatric nomenclature.

Individuals who came to this mental health system for therapy often did so because they had tried and failed to get relief through the undocumented traditional mental health model that coexists alongside the Western model (Van-Der-Zeijst et al., 2023). Thus, the loosely structured formal system mirrored the African perspective on mental health, which is more cosmic, while the formal system reflected the ideas of mental health that are universal. According to African culture, having good mental health is being able to fulfill one's obligations to oneself, others, and the community. Individual adjustment is impacted by the ongoing interplay between these three functional domains. The point of emphasis was the effect of value shift on human adjustment, which rested on African philosophy that placed an emphasis on ideals of attachment and community life. The study focused more intently on the cumulative effect of inadequate-development on mental health due to the protracted nature of African inadequate-development as well as the situation of mental health in Africa (Van-Der-Zeijst, et al., 2023).

Nigeria's mental health situation reveal that Nigeria is likely one of the few nations in Africa to have produced a significant body of study on the topic of mental health. The majority of African studies on mental health, including those by Ogunwale et al. (2023), Fadare et al. (2023), and Labinjo et al. (2020), were located in Nigeria. Nigerian mental health experts have written critical articles on the topic of mental health in Africa and Nigeria, including Agberotim et al (2020). Despite these indigenous research sources, Nigeria is typical of the sovereign nations of sub-Saharan Africa in that it lacks a well-defined mental health policy that is part of a comprehensive development plan.

Additionally, the nation's pragmatic approach to economic growth, which has particular characteristics of capital accumulation made it even more emblematic of the several independent African nations that have embraced a comparable model of economic growth. Additionally to these elements, Nigeria has a wealth of natural and human resources, which have helped it gain prominence in both African and international politics. Due to its natural resources, Nigeria is regarded as Africa's behemoth by the majority of Africans. Nigeria was chosen as the subject of the case study because of all these aspects.

According to Abdulmalik et al. (2019), access to mental health treatments as well as the financial protection of those in requiring care and treatment are both restricted in low- and middle-income nations. This is especially important in light of the well-established link involving mental health problem and poverty as well as the requirement to safeguard people with mental illnesses and their families from financial risk as part of the nation's attempts to achieve universal health care. Furthermore, Davlasheridze et al. (2018) contend that having poor mental health can have a significant impact on employment performance in a number of ways. Lack of desire and energy, together with perhaps unfavorable relationships with coworkers, are two clear effects that might result in poor work performance and productivity. Another is recurrent sick leave from the workplace.

In today's knowledge-intensive, innovation-driven economy, people work less with their hands and more with their minds. In times past, physical fitness was essential for work success; today, mental health is essential. As a result, more so than in the past, the state of the labor force's mental health has become a significant economic determinant. However, it also appears that the labor force's mental health is coming under more and more strain in the current economic climate. There are several alarming statistics regarding the rise in workplace stress, burnout, depression, and mental health issues as well as the astronomical expenses associated with them, including lower productivity, rising absenteeism and work impairment, decreased investment in human resources, and higher health care expenditures. Therefore, even if the economy now places a greater emphasis on mental health, both are, in some ways, two sides of the same coin. Because of its increasing value and scarcity, mental health has become ever more important in economics (Weehuizen, 2008).