After the two-day Mental Health Facilitators’ Training, African Institute for Ending Bullying Depression and Suicide (AFRIBS) conducted side interviews with some of the delegates who were part of the workshop. Below is what transpired during one of the conversations.
*Code is one of the participants who was present for the two-day training. These are his thoughts on #MentalHealth as a whole:
“People take for granted the extent to which life is psychological. They misinterpret their own actions in order to escape the responsibility of taking care of their minds.”
“A number of men don’t have the courage to voice out when suffering with a mental disorder. They can’t even seek medical attention because of their social standing in society of being the protectors in the home.”
His thoughts on the mental health training
“The training was beneficial, insightful, and encouraging. It reinforced the desires to make a practical difference in the community. It is one thing to have knowledge and share it, but it is another to actually make an attempt at helping those around us in practical and meaningful ways.”
What Code will do differently after the training?
Deconstructing the stigmas around mental health is what I would like to change, now that I have participated in the training.
How best can mental health be tackled?
By raising awareness, relentlessly. We cannot overcome something unless we choose to confront it.