News
Psychological distress rises among teenage girls
The Mental Health Authority of Ghana has recorded rising psychological distress cases among teenage girls in the country.
The rise, according to the authority, is linked to academic pressure, family issues, gender-based violence, and isolation.
This was disclosed by Victoria Naema Abdulai, the founder of the One Project Africa Foundation (OPAF), a non-profit organisation focused on empowering women and girls.
Ms Abdulai said this at a mental health awareness session organised by the foundation for students of the Accra Girls Senior High School in Accra.
It was held under the theme “Empowering Her Mind, Voice and Power: Fostering a Resilient Tomorrow for the Girl Child through Mental Wellness,” which was aimed at building self-awareness, promote emotional healing, and encourage resilience among young girls.
She stated that mental health was not a luxury but the foundation on which every girl’s future should be built
Ms Abdulai said despite the rising need, mental health remains one of the most misunderstood and neglected issues in our society.
She said without mental wellness, young girls will continue to struggle silently with learning, dreaming, and relating to others, warning that the lack of attention to girls’ mental health is costing society their potential.
She urged students to embrace their emotions and seek help when struggling. “You are not weak for having emotions. You are human. Seeking help does not make you a failure, it makes you courageous.”
Touching on what the foundation does, Ms Abdulai said the foundation teaches girls how to pass exams but not how to process pain, obey instructions but not how to handle rejection. We are obsessed with excellence but ignore the exhaustion.”
A Mental health practitioner and addiction specialist, Esther Kyewaah Opoku, on her part stated that mental health was not separate from general well-being but central to it. “Without your mental health, you are not healthy,” she said.
She mentioned that adolescence is a fragile period, with the brain still developing until age 25.
She disclosed that one in seven adolescent girls in Ghana has a mental disorder, with 26 per cent experiencing depression, 29.8 per cent emotional distress, and 14.8 per cent suffer trauma or behavioural issues.
She also blamed these conditions on peer pressure, bullying, sexual abuse, and toxic comparisons driven by social media. “We are sitting on a time bomb,” she said, urging early intervention and compassion.
According to her, adolescence is a critical stage of mental and emotional development, during which the executive brain, or forebrain, continues to form until age 25.
“This period is filled with vulnerabilities that, if unmanaged, can lead to lifelong challenges,” she said.
Ms Opoku therefore called for compassion, peer support, and continuous education on mental health to break the cycle of silence and stigma, particularly among young girls, saying “nobody should feel alone or hopeless.”
By Stephanie Birikorang
News
Efua Sutherland Children’s Park in ruins
Once a vibrant recreational hub for children, families, students and tourists, the Efua Sutherland Children’s Park located at West Ridge in the Greater Accra Region now lies in a state of neglect.
The facility, which was a major site of attraction for school children especially on days of vacation, is now in ruins.
Visitors to the facility are now greeted with obsolete equipment and crumbling infrastructure.
Since 2019, the famous Children’s Park has been left to ‘die.’
This raises serious concerns about the nation’s commitment to preserving such public and monumental spaces.
On a visit to the facility by The Spectator, it observed that equipment mounted on the 14.83-acre playground has rusted and have become death traps, rather than the purpose for which they were mounted for visitors.
Workers were also seen busily weeding the overgrown grass and cleaning the compound.
A source at the Ministry of Gender, Women and Social Protection, the agency with oversight responsibility of the facility disclosed to this Reporter that for now, very few activities were organised on the park.
“It is unfortunate that the facility has turned this way. Very few people come around to make enquiries about it to hold special events. Its current state don’t make it attractive for event organisers again.”
The source added that apart from being unattractive, the state of the equipment scares the children away because they fear they might get injured.
By Linda Abrefi Wadie
News
Efua Sutherland Park in a sorry state
Continued from Efua Sutherland Children’s Park in ruins
ACCORDING to the source, the collapse of the Efua Sutherland Park serves as a stark reminder of the urgent need for sustained investment from authorities and stakeholders into recreation.
“We have had investors who want to support this cause but later they fail to show up,” the source disclosed.
Ghana risks losing not just a cherished recreational site, but a vital part of its cultural and environmental heritage.
The Parks revitalisation must become a tangible priority, reflecting the value placed on public spaces, cultural memory and collective spirit of the community it serves.
Efua Sutherland Park was named after the famous playwright and children storyteller who dedicated her life to the Ghanaian child.
