Church cannot help mentally ill!
May 12, 2004
SIR— I do not agree with Pastor Benson Zari when he says in his letter “Church offers best solution†in the Sunday Vision of May 9.
SIR— I do not agree with Pastor Benson Zari when he says in his letter “Church offers best solution†in the Sunday Vision of May 9.
In the letter, he states that the late Kasoma’s brutal extermination of his entire family could have been avoided if he had sought help from the Church. He says that “the Church is the best place where to get help especially if one is in a state of mental disorder.†The truth is, as Prof E. Ovuga noted in the New Vision of May 10, mental disorders require medical intervention in the form of psychiatric services, and not prayer alone. In fact the ability of many pastors and priests to give appropriate guidance and counselling on emotional problems is questionable when one sees or hears what they do and say. Quite many of them may require psychiatric help. Remember Joseph Kibwetere?
Although Sari says “spiritual solutions offer the best hope for people in this category,†a church may not offer the best solution to a psychotic.
Moses Bakaswirewa
Busoga University
In the letter, he states that the late Kasoma’s brutal extermination of his entire family could have been avoided if he had sought help from the Church. He says that “the Church is the best place where to get help especially if one is in a state of mental disorder.†The truth is, as Prof E. Ovuga noted in the New Vision of May 10, mental disorders require medical intervention in the form of psychiatric services, and not prayer alone. In fact the ability of many pastors and priests to give appropriate guidance and counselling on emotional problems is questionable when one sees or hears what they do and say. Quite many of them may require psychiatric help. Remember Joseph Kibwetere?
Although Sari says “spiritual solutions offer the best hope for people in this category,†a church may not offer the best solution to a psychotic.
Moses Bakaswirewa
Busoga University