Over the years, Kenyans have questioned the mental state of their political leaders due to some of their actions and sentiments which raise a lot of doubts.
At times, the public dismisses this behaviour as the majority tend to align with their populist ideas and prejudices.
However, experts have different perspectives on ideas most of us easily conform to.
Snaida Ayub, a psychologist and counsellor who spoke to Kenyans.co.ke, stated that politicians are prone to suffer from mental health illnesses which they decline to publicise for fear of damaging their reputation or losing their seats.
The mental health expert noted that leadership highly relies on someone being in the right psychological state and this could be one of the reasons some of them shy away from disclosing their struggles.
"A leader should be sober enough intellectually in order to be able to guide his/her designation without being flawed or compromised. However, in Kenya, we don't appreciate mental health and we don't support it. That's why leaders don't openly admit their problems," she stated.
The counsellor added that public figures and in this case political leaders, rarely seek help for various mental health struggles also due to scanty information and the stigmatization associated with the subject.
"Leadership is heavy and it's a job that comes with a lot of pressure. A leader will experience stress which evolves into depression, but in the usual African nature, they will dismiss it as "things that come with the job," she explained.
Snaida echoed earlier comments by Professor Lukoye Atwoli who painted a grim picture of the number of politicians who could be mentally ill but walking around undiagnosed.
Atwoli is a professor in Psychiatry with extensive leadership, teaching, and academic research experience. He pointed out that the extent of mental health among the political class in the country is tearing apart leadership.
“The magnitude of mental health problems in this country is several orders of magnitude greater than Covid-19, HIV and TB Malaria,” Prof Lukoye stated and termed the issue politicians are grappling with as a worrying and looming epidemic.
“We do have people with untreated mental health making decisions for the country in various positions. We have seen politicians do the most dramatic things. Someone is seen punching the tarmac while saying incoherent things in front of the media, yet we elect them," he added.
A survey from the American Psychological Association showed that any society that is highly involved in politics suffers from intense stress and depending on the political climate stress levels are bound to increase.
