Mental health - The African Mirror

Apr

2021

‘We are Nelli Tembe, and she is us’

AFRICA MIRROR REPORTER THE tragic death of 22-year-old Anele Nelli Tembe, the fiance of rap superstar AKA has brought into sharp focus the plight of millions of South Africans battling with mental health. Tembe fell to her death from the 10th floor of a hotel in Cape Town on Saturday, leaving AKA and her family devastated. Yesterday, many South Africans who struggle with and manage depression and other mental ailments on a daily basis, took to social media not only to identify with Tembe but to push for the destigmatization of mental health. The social media movement came on the…

Mar

2021

By The African Mirror

Whose mental health suffered the most during COVID-19 lockdown in Nigeria

HEALTH

THE toll of the coronavirus pandemic on physical health and lives worldwide is enormous. But the disease and the lockdown measures have had an impact on mental health too. DR ABIODUN MUSBAU LAWAL, Lecturer, Department of Psychology , Federal University, Oye Ekiti Some of the mental health issues that have been reported due to COVID-19 include anxiety, depression, anger, confusion, insomnia, post-traumatic disorders, boredom, loneliness and adjustment problems. The phases of COVID-19 lockdown in Nigeria spanned between early May 2020 and the end of July 2020. Movement was restricted during this period. Gradually, lockdown was eased but a curfew of…

Nov

2020

By The African Mirror

COVID stress syndrome: 5 ways the pandemic is affecting mental health

HEALTH

GORDON J. G. ASMUNDSON, Professor of Psychology, University of Regina IN addition to its staggering impact on physical well-being and mortality, COVID-19 is also taking an unprecedented toll on our mental health. Numerous recent studies have shown global increases in the prevalence and severity of depression and anxiety as well as increases in post-traumatic stress disorder and substance abuse. These increases likely stem from the changes to daily life we have all been asked to make in attempts to mitigate viral spread. Yet conventional mental health approaches and diagnoses do not fully capture the nuanced mental health impacts of this…

Aug

2020

By The African Mirror

Mental health for pregnant women and new mothers: why extra care is needed

HEALTH

ABEL FEKADU DADI, PhD research fellow (Epidemiology), Flinders University The experience of pregnancy and childbirth has been conventionally described as a happy and joyful period of time. On the other hand, the childbearing age for females is a risky time to develop depression. This is due to a range of hormonal and other changes women go through during pregnancy and childbirth. There’s much more awareness about depression today than there was two decades ago. In 2014 the World Health Organisation (WHO) reported depression as a leading mental health issue. Recent global evidence has shown a substantial burden of perinatal depression…