More than two decades after the end of its brutal civil war, Sierra Leone continues to grapple with a silent but devastating crisis: widespread untreated mental health conditions rooted in conflict, poverty, and repeated public health emergencies. Mental health experts say depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, and substance abuse are common across the country, particularly among survivors of war-related violence, the 2014–2016 Ebola outbreak, and recent economic hardship. Yet access to mental health care remains extremely limited.
“Sierra Leone is dealing with layers of trauma,” said Abdul Kamara, a mental health nurse based in Freetown. “War, Ebola, and poverty have left psychological wounds that our health system is not yet equipped to handle.” Severe Shortage of Services: Sierra Leone has one of the weakest mental health infrastructures.
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