Mental Health Promotion for Internally Displaced Persons Using Drama Therapy in Makurdi Area, North Central Nigeria

Trends in contemporary global arts practice have shown that experts in the field of mental health have long tapped into visual arts and music to help treat developmental disabilities and several other mental issues, including depression, anxiety, borderline personality disorder, as well as schizophrenia and bipolar spectrum. Today, therapists are finding great benefit from another art form; drama.” However, the paradox in Nigeria, especially in the northern part is that drama technique as a psychotherapeutic practice does not exist in the protocol of mental health facilities. In retrospect, it is obvious that the poor status of mental health care in northern Nigeria is due mainly to lack of facilities, un-affordability and inaccessibility to health facilities. Against this backdrop of increasing mental health issues, especially post-traumatic-stress-disorder (PTSD); resulting from insurgency attacks, communal clashes, herdsmen carnage, road accident and flood, which have given rise to various internally displaced persons (IDPs) camps vis-à-vis their psychological implication in the north. The need for the availability of drama therapy technique becomes highly imperative for affordable, accessible and effective mental healthcare promotion. The paper discusses the concept and practice of drama and theatre therapy techniques, and how they can be applied in psychotherapeutic sessions both at individual and group therapy levels. The improvisational approach which keys into various expressive art techniques shall be utilized. The approach is used to create believable characters out of IDPs themselves, through storytelling, songs, music, dance, etc., to enable them to get emotionally involved to establish a recall of the experience that brought about their disadvantaged psychological condition. This leads to clinical discussions that will facilitate the way forward in making individual and collective choices and decisions that will bring about not just mental health, but holistic well-being.