Inspirational and Socio-Political Blog.

Monday 24 September 2012

Mental Illness In Nigeria: The Remedy






First I must commend those who have shown the courage to speak up about their mental conditions after reading the first part of this submission (Mental Illness In Nigeria: The Stigmatization and Ignorance).  Many people are suffering in silence in Nigeria as a result of the stigmatization caused by ignorance and little understanding of the mental conditions.

Many more people are going through several mental conditions, but because of our society, these conditions are not for public discussion and speaking to a specialist is only a myth.
If experiencing mental conditions, be assured that you are not alone; a lot more are going through similar situation.  Majority of these situations happen due to stress to the brain. 

Stress can affect the brain like fever does the body. Our brain is like any other parts of the body, once it goes through stress and worry, it tend to lapse and requires our attention. 
When you sense you are going through mental stress, rather than curling up to your shells and suffer in silence, try to follow the tips below for speedy recovery. 

Be active
i.               Start by participating in physical activity, it will get you in the right state of mind. 
ii.            Exercise regularly so you can feel robust and strong mentally again.

Take control
i.       Be Positive, if your problem has a start date, then it sure has an end date.
ii.            There is always a solution to your problem, however difficult it appears to be.
iii.          Take control, if you remain passive thinking, ‘I can’t do anything about my problem’, then your stress will get worse, that feeling of loss of control is one of the main causes of stress and lack of wellbeing.
iv.          Be empowered by taking control, it’s an essential part of finding a solution that satisfies you and not someone else.

Connect with people
i.        Speak to someone, a problem shared is a problem halved.
ii.            Network with friends and family, it can ease your troubles and help you see things in a different way.
iii.          The activities we do with friends help us relax and we often have a good laugh with them, which is an excellent stress reliever.

Have Some Time For Yourself
i.               Don’t overdo activities; take things steadily and very meticulously.
ii.            Take time for socialising, relaxation or exercise, don’t forget that all work and no play make jack a dull boy.
iii.          Join social clubs and attend their activities to socialise.

Challenge yourself
i.               Start something new like learning a new language or a new sport, it will help to build confidence and reduce stress.
ii.             Challenging yourself constantly is the proactive way of taking charge of your life.
iii.           Continue to learn, you will become more emotionally resilient as a person.
                                
Change Your Habits
i.               Don't rely on alcohol, smoking and caffeine as your ways of coping.
ii.            Prevent the avoidance behaviour as above and seek support from your social circle.
iii.           Tackle the cause of your stress head on.

Do Volunteer Work
i.       Help others through activities such as volunteering or community work, it makes you become more resilient.
ii.            Helping people who are often in situations worse than yours will help put your problems into perspective.
iii.          The more you give, the more resilient and happy you feel.
iv.           Make it a duty to do someone a favour every day. It can be something as small as helping someone to cross the road.  Favours cost nothing to do, and you’ll feel better.

Prioritise Your Work
i.        Work Smarter, rather than harder.
ii.         Good time management means quality work rather than quantity.
iii.          Avoid reading/working for long hours, long hours of reading causes brain stress.
iv.          You have to get a work-life balance that suits you.
v.             Work smarter, prioritise your work, concentrate on takes that makes a real difference to your work and ignore irrelevances.
vi.          Leave the least important tasks to last.

 Be positive
i.          Look for the positives in life, and things for which you're grateful.
ii.         Appreciate what you have, rather than worry about what you don’t have.
iii.       Try to be glass half full instead of glass half empty.
iv.        Have a shift in your perspective and be optimistic rather than pessimistic.
v.             Problems are often a question of perspective. Change your perspective so you may see your situation from a more positive point of view.
vi.           No matter what happens to you, don’t let it get you down, problems are there to teach us a lesson.
vii.         The greatest lesson in life is patience, just be patience irrespective.

Accept The Things You Can't Change
i.          Changing a difficult situation all the time is not always possible.
ii.         Try to recognise and accept things as they are and concentrate on everything that you do have control over.
iii.        There is no point fighting with yourself, focus on the things you can control, such as looking for the alternatives.