SAVANNA-LA-MAR, Westmoreland — Councillors in the Westmoreland Municipal Corporation (WMC) are calling for an urgent expansion of mental health awareness programmes across the parish, following reports of a surge in mental illness cases in the area.

While no numbers were presented Steve Morris, Westmoreland’s chief public health inspector, told Thursday’s meeting of the WMC that there has been an increase in deployment of mental health case workers to communities across the parish to provide counselling and raise awareness.

This followed an intervention from Councillor Ian Myles (Jamaica Labour Party, Little London Division), who argued that families urgently need the tools to recognise early warning signs and secure professional help for struggling relatives.

Myles told the meeting that he has observed a growing number of people, including previously high-functioning professionals, wandering the streets in visible distress.

“I am partnering with Ministry of Health and Wellness to do some mental health seminars in my division,” Myles stated.

“It is becoming a problem in the parish [with even] retired teachers walking the streets. The family members are not able to treat this type of illness. I am going all out to ensure that the education aspect is reaching the communities so they can respond to this issue,” added Myles.

Councillor for the Little London Division Ian Myles (right) stressed that families urgently need the tools to recognise early warning signs and secure professional help for struggling relatives. (Photo: Rosalee Wood Condell)

He argued that without widespread public education to dismantle stigma, support families, and guide residents toward early intervention, the parish risks losing more of its citizens to preventable mental health crises.

Supporting Myles’ call, Councillor Arthel Colley (People’s National Party, Negril Division) said he has observed a similar uptick, particularly among the youth, where untreated childhood trauma frequently manifests as severe behavioural problems.

Colley recounted being called in to counsel a high school student who had been expelled from four different schools for persistent fighting.

According to Colley, when he looked into the boy’s background he discovered that at six years old the child witnessed gunmen storm a shop and murder his aunt and another relative — an event for which he never received professional counselling.

The seeming spike in mental health cases in Westmoreland is being linked to the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa which devastated the parish in October 2025.

According to a study done by the Faculty of Science and Technology at The University of the West Indies, prior to the storm, rising attendance at Western Regional Health Authority (WRHA) clinics by people with mental challenges was largely driven by reduced stigma and people willingly seeking care.

Since November 2025, however, local caseloads have shifted sharply toward acute trauma, grief, anxiety, and livelihood-related depression.

Outreach efforts throughout 2026 — including mobile medical units operated alongside Project HOPE through April and ongoing visits by WRHA counsellors — have uncovered high levels of unmet psychological need.

On Thursday, the chief public health inspector told the WMC meeting that deep-seated social stigma and the harsh realities of treatment continue to derail recovery efforts for people with mental challenges who do seek help.

Morris shared the case of a patient who had been successfully rehabilitated by the local mental health team, placed on medication, and reintegrated into the workforce. However, when the clinical team visited the man’s workplace to administer his routine injection, his employer discovered his diagnosis and promptly fired him.

— Rosalee Wood Condell