Pay Attention to your Mental Heath this Season

Paying attention to your mental health this season is very important… Unfortunately, this aspect of health has been ignored so far. Put your mental health first in your life. Do not get carried away. Have a healthy mind in a healthy body.

As you try to keep your body fit physically, do not forget to keep your mind healthy. This will prevent you from damaging your physical health. No matter what happens in the year 2021, this new year promises to be a wonderful one. Have a positive thought towards this.

The year 2022 needs you at your best. Remember that ‘mental health’ is ‘total health’. Strike a perfect balance between your mental health and your physical health. Remember that you deserve to be at your best. The best thing you can do to achieve this is to protect your mental well-being by making it a priority to live a healthy, happy, and productive life. Pay attention to little details about your mental health. It’s very important to take care of yourself and get the best out of life.

Speak out when needed. Continuously examine yourself, talk to your friends and family regularly, or if need be, consult a professional. Do not focus on your physical health at the expense of your mental health.

Wishing you a wonderful year ahead.

Message from the Convener/Founder, MHDi

World Mental Health Day 2021: Mental Health in an Unequal World

This year's World Mental Health Day theme reaffirmed the need to ensure that everyone has access to mental health care. Making this a reality is everyone's responsibility. The effects of the COVID19 pandemic can be felt in all walks of life and especially in people's mental health. Many services have been discontinued, including mental illness, neurological disorders, and substance use disorders. People with pre-existing mental illnesses were severely affected because they were unable to access these services in their entirety.

Despite all these events, we are sure that there is still hope. This has led to the need to improve the quality of mental health services provided at all levels throughout the world. Many countries still need to develop resources to expand this, but it appears that some countries have found new ways to provide mental health care to their populations.

According to the World Federation for Mental Health, the theme of this year's campaign was to highlight that access to mental health services remains uneven. More than three-quarters of people with mental disorders in low- and middle-income countries have no access to mental health services at all, and access is not much better in other countries. Lack of investment in mental health that is disproportionate to the overall health budget contributes to the mental health treatment gap.

Research has shown that the quality of care for people with mental health problems is poor. Stigma and discrimination against people with mental illness not only affect their physical and mental health, but also affect educational opportunities, current and future income and job prospects, families and loved ones. It can take up to 15 years for patients who need this quality of care in daily practice to receive medical, social and psychological treatments for mental illness that have been proven in high quality research studies.

‘Mental Health in an Unequal World’ campaign will allow us to focus on the issues that led to inequality in mental health locally and globally. This inequality must be addressed because it should not persist. We all have a role to play in addressing these inequalities and ensuring that people with lived experiences of mental health are fully integrated into all aspects of life. Civil societies should be supported in playing an active role in tackling inequality in their local areas, while researchers should be encouraged to share their knowledge about mental health inequalities, including practical ideas on how to address them.

As we are in the midst of a global crisis that is increasing health, economic and social inequalities, this campaign is an opportunity for us to come together and act together to show how inequality can be addressed to ensure that people are enjoying good mental health.

Your Mind Matters: Keep It Clean

The mind has been defined as the element of a person that enables them to be aware of the world and their experiences, to think, and to feel. According to Helping Minds (2021), mental health is the balanced state of mind, whilst mental ill-health indicates that something is off-balance, off-centre and it is impacting on someone's ability to live a normal life. Mental ill-health is a broad term that includes both mental illnesses and mental health challenges.

Paying attention to our mental health was the basis of discussion during an interactive session organised by Nigerian Universities Nursing Students’ Association, University of Nigeria, Enugu State (NUNSA, UNEC) in collaboration with the state chapter of Mental Health Drive Initiative held on Saturday, 25th September, 2021. The session dwells on mental health awareness and suicide prevention.

It was reported during the event that authorities who teach and advocate for mental health are those who hinder the students from enjoying good mental health based on an environment created by these authorities, which negatively impact the students’ life. Many students, as a result of this, have been victims of depression and suicidal thoughts/attempts.

The students were made to be aware that the use of a positive or healthy coping mechanism goes a long way in managing stress and the ability to identify one’s strength and weakness. Not all coping mechanisms can work in all situation but there is need to identify which coping mechanism is right for each situation.

Some of the positive or healthy coping mechanisms identified in managing stress include taking time out to engage in pleasurable activities, talking and connecting to friends and families, taking care of the body by eating well, having adequate rest and sleeping well. Other strategies include avoiding the intake of drugs and alcohol and identifying the right time to seek for help, especially from professionals.

In addition, long term subjection to stress is not healthy and can further lead to other mental health challenges. Depression has been identified to be a common challenge among the students which has led to series of suicidal thoughts and attempts. They have been encouraged to be their brothers’ keeper by quickly identifying the presenting signs of depression in their colleagues and seeking help as soon as possible. Everyone was also encouraged to speak out when having a bad or negative feeling and seek help.

It was recommended at the end of the session that more awareness creation should be encouraged and carried out among the students and the authorities at their educational facilities. More collaborations with mental health organisations was also suggested.

Present at the session were the executives and some members of NUNSA UNEC and the Convener of Mental Health Drive Initiative, Mr. Daniel Faleti and other directors of the initiative.

Call for Article Submission

As part of efforts to mark 2021 World Mental Health Day and to improve the awareness and education about mental health and illness, Mental Health Drive Initiative hereby calls for submission of mental health-related articles for publication.

These articles will be published on www.mhdinitiative.org

Types of articles accepted include:

▪️Short review articles

▪️ Columns

▪️Feature writing articles

▪️ Commentary/Opinion articles

▪️How-To articles

▪️Essays

▪️News articles

▪️ Lifestyle articles

▪️ Question-and-Answer articles

▪️ Sponsored content articles

▪️Trend articles

Interested authors or individuals should submit their articles via mentalhealthdrive@gmail.com with the following:

1. Full name

2. Photograph

▪️All articles must be original

▪️Citations must be referenced

▪️Long articles are accepted (may be split into series during publication)

Submission deadline: 31st October, 2021

© Editorial Office, Mental Health Drive Initiative

2021 MHDi First Quarter Webinar - March 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the inadequate/poor/lack of attention to our mental health by individuals, families, groups, the society and the government.

According to World Health Organisation, countries were spending less than 2 per cent of their national health budgets on mental health, and struggling to meet their populations’ needs prior to the pandemic.

The pandemic came with its psychosocial burden that revealed the need to change our priorities as regards our mental health.

Join the First Quarter Webinar 2021 organised by Mental Health Drive Initiative live on Zoom.

Topic: Mental Health & COVID-19: A Need for Change in Priorities

Date: Saturday, 27th March, 2021

Time: 10:00 hrs (GMT +1)

Speaker: Ayeyemi A. Obabire (Psychiatrist & MANI Kwara State Coordinator)

Interested in participating, kindly join this link http://bit.ly/mhdiq1webinar2021 latest 26th March, 2021 for updates.

For further enquiries, call/chat +234 806 129 5086 or +234 814 050 1986 or send a mail to mentalhealthdrive@gmail.com

New Year Message: Make Your Mental Health Count

This day signifies the opening of a new calender; a day expected and cherished by many. It's a day that also signifies a new chapter of our lives among others.

Reflection on the past years is an exercise carried out on a day like this. This includes reflection on every aspects of our lives leading to decisions to continue, discontinue or restructure certain actions that affects us.

In this new year, as we put our lives in order for what the year is bringing, let's make our mental health count. Years before now, including 2020, may have had enormous burden on your mental health as individuals, your families, your societies and so on, this is the time to make it count.

Mental health has suffered a lot of neglect which has had significant impact on our lives directly and indirectly. The disproportionate focus on severe mental health issues has also led to the neglect of mild to moderate mental illness.

High burden of mental ill health has led to reduced quality of life, loss of productivity and premature mortality, which necessitate the need to pay attention to our mental health this year.

The pandemic that sent the whole world into panic last year had its toil too on our mental health. Many people will likely feel the impacts of the pandemic more this year. Therefore, let your mental health count this new year.

Pay attention to little details about your mental health. It’s very important to take care of yourself and get the best out of life.

Speak out this new year. Talk about how you feel as this can help you stay in good mental health. Dealing with times when you feel troubled won't be difficult when you speak out.

Ask for help when and where necessary; when things are getting too much for you and you have the feeling that you can't cope. Take a break from activities when necessary to relieve yourself from stress.

Boost your self esteem by doing what you are good at, which gives you pleasure and satisfaction. Accept who you are and care for others.

Finally, keep active, eat well because a diet that’s good for your physical health is also good for your mental health.

Remember, mental health is total health.

Happy new year.

Daniel D. Faleti

Convener, Mental Health Drive Initiative

2020 Time Out With MHDi

Mental Health Drive Initiative is inviting the general public to her 2020 edition of TIME OUT WITH MHDi.

Theme: Talking 2020 (Learning, Relearning and Unlearning from the Year 2020)

Locations

▪️Rivers State: Pleasure Park, Port Harcourt (Thursday, 10th December, 2020) 12pm

▪️Lagos State: JJT Park, Ikeja (Saturday, 12th December, 2020) 10am

▪️Kwara State: Kwara State University International Conference Centre (Saturday, 12th December, 2020) 11am

You can also join Rivers and Lagos virtually. To join, contact:

▪️Lagos: 0906 027 2873 (Julius)

▪️Rivers: 0814 050 1986 (Tega)

For sponsorship and enquiries, contact 0703 295 3763 or send an email to mentalhealthdrive@gmail.com