
By George Ozalla
To commemorate the international day for mental health awareness, a not-for- profit organization; Slum and Rural Health Initiative (SRHIN), passionate mental health advocates and other stakeholders has unanimously called for increased funding, awareness campaigns, destigmatization as well as diverse supports to tackle ever rising mental health challenges.
This call was made during a mental health walk tagged: ‘let’s walk the talk’, in Abuja Thursday.
Speaking on the significance of the mental health walk and the day’s mental health commemoration, Mr Mathew Ogonnaya who is the Abuja Coordinator of Slum and Rural Health Initiative emphasized the need for more increased awareness campaigns by everyone.
Ogonnaya, stressing further stated; “in fact, today with one voice with our partners here, we are calling on Nigerian government to prioritize mental health in every space, especially in our work places. We are calling on the federal government also to increase budgetary allocation and we also call for establishment of mental health departments in Nigeria, localizing mental health centres in the 36 states including Abuja-FCT”.
Dr Adeoye David Olusegun, Founder of BBML Foundation in his remark defined mental health to include the way we think, the way we act and the way we relate with people generally, he went further to state that it’s the totality of being, how we are able to carry on day to day activities, in the midst of our struggles mental health still matter”.
Olusegun therefore called on government to, “prioritize mental health policy like every other health issues because a lot of people are dying in silence”.
Mr Dauda Yahaya, the Northern Coordinator of SRHIN while addressing newsmen explained that: “a lot has been said about mental health, I think that everybody understands what mental health is, on our own part we believe that government cannot do it alone that is why we at the Slum and Rural Health Initiative (SRHIN) work with Internally Displaced People (IDP), the most affected people, the vulnerable people across northern region; especially where crisis has been impacted so much, we built offices across IDP camps in northern Nigeria where we ensure that these children are engaged especially the ones who might have lost their parents to crisis, we ensure that they are not idle”.
He further that, “because one thing that affect mental health or can cause mental health is idleness, we ensure that we engage their brains, we ensure that we establish temporary schools where these children can learn free of charge at Slum and Rural Health Initiative (SRHIN), we pay some of these teachers, we recruit volunteers to teach the children”.
He explained, “again the teenagers- we make sure that they acquire skills, we teach them how to make handbags, shoes and the rest of them so that they can make money themselves and don’t engage in some other social vices: like smoking, taking of illicit drugs and the rest of them. And we ensure that we disengage them from the thought of suicide: also because you know for one to have lost his or her parents due to crisis, the next thing they think is suicide, so we try to engage their minds positively”, Dauda concluded.
Kemi Adekanye, the Chief Volunteer of Okapi Cancer Foundation in her remark stated that, “mental health issues affect every aspect of our individual lives so we support children who have cancer and we also provide mental health support for them and their families because cancer is something that could debilitate anyone, so we do prioritize mental health in our organisation.
Adekanye, while reacting further stated, “I think the government needs to be more aware, the government need to pay more attention to mental health issues because even people tend to see mental health as something that should be stigmatized but mental health is a normal illness like malaria that can be treated, people should not stigmatize people who have mental health condition, rather we should rally round and support, I think every Nigerian at this point has some sort of mental health issue regardless of the level, so we all should rally round and support people who are struggling more than others”.
Kenechi Bernard, a certified mental health therapist opined: “I want to remind us that mental health has no age bracket, it is ageless, colorless and genderless- we need to destigmatize the term mental health, that way we can actually seek for help, get help and also offer help where necessary”.
World mental health day is an annual event that takes place every October 10 to significantly spotlight mental health issues around the globe, raise awareness of mental health issues and encourage adequate efforts to support those experiencing mental health issues. This year’s theme is: “It is Time to Prioritize Mental Health in Workplaces”.
Highpoints of the mental health walk included display of various colorful placards with different short inscriptions about mental health awareness, counselling, enlightenment campaign, group photographs and entertainment.