SANTA CRUZ, St Elizabeth — It’s probably difficult for many to appreciate, but the experts say there is an increase in depressive mental illness at Christmas time.

“Studies have shown that during the Christmas season some persons tend to become depressed, perhaps because others around them are happy and enjoying themselves and they are not,” explains Karen Elliot, mental health nurse practitioner in St Elizabeth.

Separate and apart from the instinctive desire to spread cheer at this time of year, recognition of the seasonal vulnerabilities has motivated treats for St Elizabeth’s mentally challenged in the week leading up to Christmas Day.

The chief organisers are the St Elizabeth Care Foundation, a private voluntary organisation which provides support for the mentally ill and those living on the streets. It is working in close collaboration with the Health Department of the Ministry of Health and Jamaica Money Market Brokers (JMMB) which has provided $100,000 over the past year for the foundation’s street people programme.

The first treat took place on Tuesday for more than 100 people at the Santa Cruz health centre and others have been scheduled for Ginger Hill in northern St Elizabeth catering for about 30 people, the parish capital Black River — for about 150-200 people — and Junction in South-east St Elizabeth (about 100 people).

“Basically we are just trying to do what we can to make life a little better for people who are in dire need,” said Patrick Thomas of the Care Foundation.

As she watched the distribution of meals to the mentally challenged at the Santa Cruz Health Centre on Tuesday, Elliot explained that all were patients of the Health Department.

“These patients have no family, no social support and at this time of the year when persons are happy we want them to feel happy too,” she said.

Lisa-Gaye Burton — branch operations manager at JMMB Santa Cruz who presented a cheque worth $40,000 to Elliot as support for the Santa Cruz treat — said her company was intent on assisting the mentally challenged.

“They don’t receive the care that they should be getting from family,” said Burton. “We have heard testimony that for many of them, their family members are neglecting them and they are not getting the support they need to feel valued and loved, so we are just trying to give them that little care and to show that somebody care,” she added.

Elliot told the Observer that mental illness is “quite a big problem” in St Elizabeth. “I can state for the (south central) region of Clarendon, Manchester and St Elizabeth, so far from January to October of this year we have seen over 19,000 visits for patients with mental disorders. These include schizophrenia, depression, anxiety disorders, and post-traumatic stress disorders which are very common today — the result of violence and persons traumatised during their lifetime…,” said Elliot.

Drug induced psychosis, often resulting from the smoking of ganja, older folk suffering from dementia and those afflicted by epilepsy with psychosis compounded the health department’s workload, she said.

There were also many children with a range of problems including attention deficit, hyperactivity, adjustment, and learning disorders.

Arguing that “we need all the help we can get”, Elliot is urging businesses operating in St

Elizabeth “to come on board in the same way that JMMB has”.