Why Nigerians need to wake up about depression
I woke up Thursday morning to social media chatter about a student of Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria, who had committed suicide. Online news portals also touted round what seemed like a suicide note, in which the youngster, said to be in 300 levels, wrote words which showed she was troubled indeed. Some accounts even say […]
I woke up Thursday morning to social media chatter about a student of Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria, who had committed suicide. Online news portals also touted round what seemed like a suicide note, in which the youngster, said to be in 300 levels, wrote words which showed she was troubled indeed. Some accounts even say her mother had been accusing her of being a witch, once again shedding light on that shameless preoccupation of many Nigerians with superstition.
But before I digress, I’m actually writing to raise much-needed alarm, of the need for families, friends, and anyone who cares really, to pay attention to people around them, who may be going through rough times. Depression oftentimes leads to suicide, and a host of other dangers, but what makes it particularly sad, is that it is avoidable, in that it is treatable. But the main problem, in Nigeria at least, is that most people subscribe to bizarre superstitious beliefs which can worsen the problem.
Imagine being a young woman, in a reality as harsh as the current Nigerian one, and having your own mother seeing you as the main cause of whatever problems she’s facing. It’s too heavy a burden for a child to bear, and is bound to make one snap. We are all wired differently, and what one person can use as fuel to progress, could actually set fire to another’s self-esteem, or even a will to live.
I’m even confused. as to what to suggest to the authorities to do. The National Orientation Agency coming in with public enlightenment? No, not political enough. Clerics preaching about it, as opposed to their favourite tithe-encouraging topics? That’s never going to happen. Teachers somehow doubling as guidance counsellors to troubled kids? Again, no, because let’s face it, they have their own depression-inducing issues like poor pay, etc. But all I’m sure is, something needs to be done, and urgently.
In a country where all kinds of things happen daily to traumatize even the strongest-willed of us, others less fortunate would be totally overwhelmed, and even pushed to the brink. After the Chibok girls, Leah Sharibu, Hauwa Liman and others, I didn’t think I’d be this heartbroken again, but reading about this, the latest tragedy, and the note she left, I broke down in tears. There are so many issues within the letter she left, but what stood out to me was one line: “I may smile a lot, but I’ve never been happy.” Therefore, we all should be on the lookout for even the smallest signs of depression, for the sufferers often have found ways to camouflage their pain. To the few good friends she left behind (her family, according to the note, was extremely cruel and neglectful), I pray for strength to navigate these stormy waters. To the tragically troubled youngster, I hope that somehow her soul has found peace.
Maliki wrote in from Lekki Phase I, Lagos State.