The mental health unit at Gulu regional referral hospital is in need of clinical psychologists to handle increasing cases of mental illness mainly resulting from stress.

Bruno Atyang, the head of the mental health unit says they register patients who only require psychological interventions to heal.

Atyang says referral hospitals across the country lack clinical psychologists because the Ministry of Health is still mobilizing funds to recruit them.

This comes as Gulu Regional Referral Hospital grapples with a high number of cases of stress and depression resulting from job loss.

Atyang says that the recent closure of many Non-Governmental Organizations led to many people getting stressed out and later depressed as they were being paid very highly.

He explains that counselling helped many of the victims to recover and move on from the job loss while those who delayed to seek treatment became depressed.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), depression is a common mental disorder that involves a depressed mood or loss of pleasure or interest in activities for long periods of time.

Approximately 332 million people in the world are suffering from depression, according to WHO.

By Justine Muboka