CALM DOWN: NEVER LET DEPRESSION AND ANXIETY WIN.
Depression and anxiety have become a worldwide pandemic. The number of people who have been or are depressed is highly on the rise, and the number of people who seek help is unfortunately very low compared to people who think they can manage it but end up making the wrong decisions. Our mental health is of paramount importance in keeping us sane and alive as we go about our daily activities. Unfortunately, this pandemic is not respecter of persons, which means anyone can fall victim.
To educate the public on the dangers of this pandemic and effective ways to go about it, we hosted Miss Bamigbola Busayo (A mental health nurse) during our weekly Radio show on FUTA 93.1FM tagged; “Calm Down: Never Let Depression and Anxiety Win”.
During the discussion, it was confirmed that Depression and anxiety are issues that greatly affect your mental health as an individual, and it is very important for you to quickly seek help if you are noticing any symptoms of depression and anxiety. . It was also mentioned that a lot of people (especially Africans) do not see the need for therapy or the need to talk to someone when they are feeling down. Lots of people would prefer to go for the popular phrase “man up”, which has been discovered to cause more harm than good to the individual.
Discovering early signs of depression without speaking up or seeking help often leads to the ‘911’ symptoms of depression. To curb this, it was revealed that there are health services available to help you deal with this problem. The psychiatrist’s hospital shouldn’t be seen as only a place for mentally unstable (psychiatric) patients, as there are also mental health care providers who are readily available to give adequate care when you have cases that involve depression and anxiety in those facilities. Seeking help as early as possible saves a lot of lives and helps to stay healthy.
Miss Bamigbola Busayo further added that there is a difference between sadness and depression. She stated that “depression can be defined as a prolonged sadness that stays unattended to which often leads to feelings of hopelessness, nothingness, and extreme sadness”. She further iterated that depression can make you lose interest in some of your favorite activities, exhibit feelings of nonchalance to the things that once majorly interests you, basically causing you to lose interest in life generally.
According to her; Some of the symptoms of depression amongst many include:
- Unusual loss of appetite/weight loss
- Unusual or sudden weight gain
- Unusual or less sleep pattern/ insomnia
- Unusual sleep pattern / too much sleep
- Loss of concentration
- Feelings of dejection
- Loss of interest in the things that once interest you
- Feelings of nonchalance towards life itself
- Prolonged/extreme sadness
- Suicidal thoughts etc
She further analyzed that there are measures that can be taken to prevent depression and they include:
- Not having too many expectations towards a particular goal or thing to avoid a fatal blow when it ends up in disappointments. She backed up her point with her theory; little satisfaction + low expectation = low disappointment
- Learning to see failures as a part of life. A lot of people tend to handle failures poorly because of how unusual it makes them feel and this leads them to depression. But learning to see failure as a part of life, as an experience, as a means of doing better next time, as a lesson, would help people handle failures better.
- Surrounding yourself with people or things that make you feel positive and happy
- Asking for help when you are feeling down, learning to talk to people when you are feeling bothered, learning to open up.
- Looking for refreshing ways to express yourself when you are sad. Crying is not a sign of weakness, it also helps to relieve your feelings, so cry if you need to cry and let it all out.
She further emphasized the emergency symptom of depression/anxiety which is “suicidal thoughts”, she advised that this symptom should not be taken likely, and medical help should be sought immediately to receive quick attention and save a life.
In her closing remark, she added that; everyone is at the risk of being a victim but with intentional measures taken, it can be avoided. She advised that you should check on people as people are going through a lot, talk to your friends or pals you see are not okay.
The power of simple care/conversation cannot be underestimated.
Incase you need someone to listen to or talk to, feel free to reach us on Whatsapp via +234 813 311 0479
