The Federation of St. Kitts & Nevis Dr. Arthur W. L. Lake Mental Health Day Treatment Centre - Caring for the mind, caring for life

The Centre

The Centre offers a warm and friendly safe space, facilitating rehabilitative programs geared primarily to preventing relapse, while ensuring the goal of recovery and reintegration into the community.

Clients are greeted every morning by caring, friendly, and extremely competent staff who guide them through the daily exercises. The treatment programs include Medication Management, General Health, Nutrition, Personal Hygiene, Personal safety and even the opportunity to develop and practice employment and leadership skills.

Daily group activities include Meditation, Wellness Management and Recovery, Occupational therapy, Gardening & Agriculture therapy, and Music & Drama Appreciation.  The Centre is very strict with its cooperation and confidentiality policy and ensures that all rules are followed.

Nurse Mary Liburd gave some insight into the clients induction to the Centre.

“All of our clients are assessed firsthand mentally and physically. The difference between our Centre and the Hospital facility is our clients are more relaxed and involved, it feels like home to them. We offer many activities, gardening, games including cricket and ball games, dominoes, they even do chores in the kitchen for me (she chuckles) I am very happy and motivated to be of able to offer assistance. I feel good about the success stories for those who would have been reintegrated into society.”

The Clients

How do the clients cope, are they enthusiastic, is there fear?

 Client Enver is very clear and concise about his diagnosis and willing to share openly to motivate others to seek help.

“ I learnt that alcoholism was a disease, like every disease there is a treatment, there may not be a cure but there is treatment available”

Client F also wants to encourage others who are afraid to seek help. She said...

“At first, I was diagnosed with schizophrenia, I was on some medication, then my mother died and I was even more depressed.

I felt anxious, depressed, and emotional. Outside of medication, I sleep a lot. The medication helps because my family feels I am back to being myself. The medication really helps”.

She showered praises upon the Centre:

“The Centre educated me a lot about my diagnosis, they helped me with my time management, gardening and my social skills, I am grateful to the Centre for that because I am not sleeping as much.”

Client T was diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder.

He described an episode...

“You have a total loss of interest in things that you would normally be interested in, it comes with major anxiety as well. My first severe episode involved a lot of paranoia.

I always felt that someone was out to get me, and I would hear voices, people speaking that no one else would hear - that was the psychosis part.

My turning point was two to three years ago, I attempted suicide and that was not the first time. I ended up in the Psychiatric ward at the JNF Hospital for a while after which I was referred to the Centre for rehabilitation”.

He said the Centre set him on the road to recovery.

“The treatment has helped me to manage my thoughts, think more positive, the sessions I attended here were about self-worth, building self-esteem, allowing you to believe in yourself, it helped me to reintegrate into society. I would like to say than you to everyone who made my rehabilitation a success, I really appreciate what they have done for me.

Nurse Joyah Walters is one of the mental health nurses at the Centre, she said that when it comes to stigma and discrimination…

“You have to love people to do a job like this, you have to put yourself in their shoes and say what happened to them could happen to me.”

Nurse Joyah explained that the stigma attached to persons dealing with mental illness also passes on the health care workers.  She said that despite all the negative elements the success stories keep her grounded. 

“It makes me feel good when I see someone who came to us at their lowest show improvement whether it is a month or weeks, I feel good.”

She further added “we need more education, we have to stop being judgmental, we have to be a more caring society

Educating the Population

Dr. Sharon Archibald says Mental Health Awareness in the Federation is a priority and “education” is the key.

Access to mental health care in the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis is on the front burner for the government administration, being able to make a meaningful contribution to society can only enhance the nation’s economy. Everyone is impacted by mental illness, whether directly or indirectly, helping citizens get back to a level of good mental health is the main objective of the country’s administration. Dr. Archibald says, “work in progress”.

Care and Support

The process of rehabilitation is not an easy one for both clients and the qualified health care workers. The staff at the Mental Health Day Care are determined to produce success stories, providing support and in essence a lifeline for the individuals entrusted in their care

Client Enver best describes what he believes is at the heart of the Centre...

“You get a sense of balance and greater overall personal integration. In my life I have seen tremendous gains that I could only define as quantum leaps in terms of balance, composure, and clarity of thinking, and for this I am enormously grateful. Their professionalism in terms of how they relate to us on an individual level, I must say, leaves nothing to be desired. It has rightfully been said that people do not care what you know until they know that you care and the people here, they do care. “