Analysis: Mental HealthCare
the whs says health is a state of complete physical mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity this means that a person’s mental health is an integral part of the of health and it is much more than the absence of mental disorders it’s an individual state of well-being and ability to cope with the normal stresses of life work productivity and contribute to his or her community here in nigeria conversations about mental health are only beginning to gather momentum as more people are becoming aware of the importance of speaking out and the need to promote protect and restore mental health joining us via skype from lagos is dr mohammad khadiri neuropsychiatrist and mental health advocate good morning dr mamuna thank you for joining us on tvc breakfast good morning now this year has been brought several dimension to issues of mental health especially as a result of the pandemic where you have to self-isolate you don’t have to you are not able to socially uh relate with certain people around you and that they say has put some sort of pressure on the mental state of not just those who are seen to have mental issues but even everyone talk to us from that point of view how much of a challenge this has brought when we’re talking about issues of mental health uh especially this year thank you very much um this this this is a very vital question and it’s something that each and every one of us is currently facing we are seeing we are seeing the kobe 19 era which is a global pandemic and i would tell us that all of us are collectively dealing with this trauma it’s a collective trauma at this point in time but the world head organization has declared could be 19 as a global pandemic but if we have to say from behind these things as we researchers and clinicians we do understand that there’s some ongoing pandemic that haven’t been declared global and one of them is the increase in the rate of mental illnesses and that’s because of the way um kobe 19 happened and the challenges that we are all currently facing stay home stay safe from persons very safe you know fiscal and social distancing some of us haven’t come to that realization that that is one preventive way that can actually keep us safe but the thing again is that how can how else can we move on with all these challenges it’s very pertinent that at this point in time all of us have to be more intentional deliberate in ensuring that we prioritize our mental health because like we said earlier on health is well but truly there’s no health without mental health one is so beginning with each and every one of us prioritizing our mental health is very key when you say intentional and deliberate how do you mean because some persons may not understand how they can be deliberate with ensuring that their mental state is perfect good good question why because um oftentimes people ask you how to be intentional and deliberate the heart is understanding that there is no help with our mental health and our physical health is interwoven into one with our mental health and for holistic awareness we need to be able to achieve both together so being intentional and being deliberate just tells you that functionality productivity interpersonal relationship your ability to deal with the day-to-day hazards of life contribute to the society you know work productively and fruitfully is tied to your mental well-being with that with those with this benefit it is not for us letting us understand that look it’s not just about leaving it to chances or by making assumptions but by mostly being intentional and deliberate and on taking care of our mental health still talking about being intentional now looking at a place like lagos state where everything is moving fast we have the hustle and bustling traffic for hours on end how do we get intentional about handling our mental health when all of these factors contribute to even having us mentally down good the truth is that let us know when we but you can’t actually leave because that’s just so if you understand this this current um statement that no matter how fast negotiates moving on or that you as an individual have you identified your stressors in fact the first question is who are you you have to also know exactly you know have what no self awareness know what your stressors are so if you have a meeting by 9 a.m and you know that from your house to where the meeting is we take like approximately like one hour why don’t you live like two three hours earlier so that is what we call intentionality and be deliberate don’t leave these two chances and tell yourself in one hour but if you have a meeting in lagos by nine am you have to leave at four a.m so you don’t you won’t sleep well so you want me but after the meeting then what so you plan your day so there are some days that is what we call emotional banking so that some days will not have the seven to nine hours adequate and adequate hours of sleep that is stipulated by the warhead organization but at the end some days you have more than 12 hours of sleep and then some days you may have like 2-3 hours when you are intentional and you bank your emotions intentionally be emotionally bankable means that deposit the right things in your emotional bank adequate hours of sleep eating right you know good exercise so when you are in deficit and you need to need them it’s easy for you to go and then withdraw just when you deposit and withdraw money in your bank so we be deliberate and intentionalized let us all be emotionally banking all right one thing you mentioned that i would like for you to expansion on is the aspect of deficit how do you begin to know that perhaps there’s a deficit somewhere and i have to do something about it good a lot of times people use the word interchangeably when they are sad they say they are depressed no so when you when you are in deficit it just means that there’s one word that that has happened and that was one word is change what has changed in you as an individual what has changed in you yesterday as against today these are the things you have to watch out for and for example when i talk about sadness when we what i think i’m depressed or i am depressed you aren’t you’d may just be sad so things you can look out for is that persistent sadness that has been ongoing for not just a day or two but at least minimum of two weeks low energy level that has also be ongoing lots of interesting things or not really you love to do you want to read your news in tvs every morning but now you wake up you don’t even feel like dressing up or having your back dressing up and going to tvc to read your lips so these are some of the things people should actually watch out for and say look there’s something going on with me it can be as common as not even sleeping well or not eating well on the flip side over sleeping or over eating so these are some of the deficits people should look after and tell say oh look out for other people they are logged on and say look for this number of days or this number of weeks i’ve noticed these changes how can i help you is there anything you would like to let me know now looking out is another aspect that is quite of a challenge in this part of the world a lot of people will say i have my own issues why should i be looking out for someone we have to deal with our issues how do we you know balance things the thing is this question is so so important and unrelated to that emotional bank you cannot operate from your place of deficit you can only operate from your place of abundance so while helping somebody please don’t neglect yourself so yes we do have challenges and that is what the life is all about the thing is that you cannot run away from problems and that is why when i’m preaching i’m talking to people i’m telling them you cannot avoid stress because stress is part of our day-to-day life even when you are sleeping you are stressing your heart is beating your lungs are functioning your brain is functioning so it’s only if you are dead that you can be not that you’re free from stress so for individuals that are trying to help other people know that you have to be abundant you have to be surprised before you can help somebody if you don’t have that it’s not going to be able to you’re not going to be able to help because you can’t give what you don’t have you
This segment dissects Mental HealthCare amid Coronavirus pandemic.
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