How To Deal With Anger Management Issues Read More »
The post How To Deal With Anger Management Issues appeared first on Project Covid.
]]>Anger is a natural, healthy emotion. Anger is an instinctive reaction to threats and it has its benefits. Some level of anger is required for our survival.
Understanding that anger only becomes a problem when you can’t control it, causing you to say or do things you’ll later regret. Uncontrolled rage is harmful to both your physical and mental health. It can also quickly escalate into verbal or physical violence, causing harm to yourself and those around you.
They include:
Aggressive Anger. A person using this style of anger communication often feels the need to be in control of themselves, other people, and situations. To get what they want, people in this category frequently employ sarcasm, humiliation, menacing criticism, complaints, verbal or physical abuse, and threats.
Passive Anger. Passive anger is characterized by a desire to avoid conflict and confrontation. So, a person with a passive anger style works hard to avoid hurting others because it makes them feel guilty. They also avoid provoking others in order to avoid feeling uncomfortable.
Passive-Aggressive Anger. A person with passive-aggressive anger style is not as outwardly aggressive towards others as the aggressive style, and they also do not want to avoid conflict as the passive style does. Instead, when they are angry, they may employ the silent treatment, withhold their love, affection, and attention, gossip, or refuse to cooperate. In a way, passive-aggressive anger is a lot like gaslighting. When asked what is wrong, they frequently say “nothing,” despite the fact that their body language or behavior clearly indicates that something is wrong.
Projective-Aggressive Anger. People who use the passive-aggressive anger style may appear passive, but they are not. Since they are afraid to admit or express their anger, they tend to project it onto others. They may try to persuade others to act out their rage for them. They may tell you that you appear agitated when you are not.
Assertive Anger. People with an assertive anger style often express their needs in a straightforward, direct, and honest manner, rather than waiting for others to read their minds. Simultaneously, they consider the emotions and desires of others. They value themselves and expect others to treat them with dignity and respect.
Losing your cool every now and then does not indicate that you have anger management issues. However, if you do find yourself experiencing most, if not all of the following physical and emotional symptoms below, then you may be struggling with anger management issues.
Physical symptoms include:
Emotional symptoms include:
The ideal aim of anger management is to control and regulate anger so that it does not cause further complications. Anger management does not mean you never get to express your frustration and hurt. It is imperative that you learn to express your anger in a healthy way. Without further ado, here are some tips and tricks to help you tame your temper
Don’t wait for these emotions to take control of your life. If you need help maintaining control or you desire professional help, click here. There are people available to listen and offer assistance.
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]]>Foundations of a Good Mental Health Routine Read More »
The post Foundations of a Good Mental Health Routine appeared first on Project Covid.
]]>Our emotional, psychological, and social well-being all play a part in our mental health and a good mental health routine is vital to all this.
Futhermore, a good mental health routine has an impact on how we think, feel, and act to achieve a better quality of life while respecting the personal, social, and cultural boundaries. Impairment in any of these is a risk factor for mental disorders
Mental health also influences how we deal with stress, interact with others, and make decisions. It is essential at all stages of life, from birth through adolescence to adulthood and ageing.
Just as physical fitness helps our bodies to stay strong, a good mental health routine helps us to achieve and sustain a state of good mental health.
Positive mental health allows us to:
There are several ways to maintain a positive mental health. Some of which include:
-VanitySauce
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]]>Is Shyness a Mental Illness? Read More »
The post Is Shyness a Mental Illness? appeared first on Project Covid.
]]>Shyness is a natural phenomenon that happens when a person feels uncomfortable in social situations but can often motivate him/herself to perform in such situations. Shyness is an attribute that develops from childhood and can remain present even till adulthood. Is it a mental illness?
Some people who go through social anxiety for lack of an understanding of what they are going through, would often describe themselves as suffering from shyness. Social anxiety presents with physical and emotional symptoms that range from mildly distressing to downright debilitating. For some, it could happen in almost all social situations while for others, it occurs only in one or two specific social settings; for example, going on a date.
Social anxiety can make one fear rejection and negative judgment from others to the point of completely avoiding social interactions.
A person who is going through social anxiety might experience any of these symptoms at social situations:
A shy person will often experience these:
Although social anxiety and shyness seem similar, shyness is a personality trait that doesn’t require treatment whereas social anxiety is a mental health condition that can worsen over time. Often, a person is more likely to feel shy when they are in situations they haven’t experienced before. When they become used to the event or the people, they begin to feel more at ease.
Shyness can grow into social anxiety if the person begins to avoid social interactions. If someone feels anxious about their shyness, this can make them feel about inferior or incompetent. Over time, these thought patterns can trigger anxiety symptoms.
One thing to note about social anxiety is that it is a chronic condition that affect anyone at any point in their life and may be accompanied by other mental illnesses such as anxiety and depression. If you feel you are dealing with social anxiety, please seek help. MANI is here. Read more about shyness.
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]]>The Untold Story of Depression Read More »
The post The Untold Story of Depression appeared first on Project Covid.
]]>Yes, you are right, but you would be wrong to believe she’s only that.
She’s as versatile as the fishes in the ocean.
As cunning as the tortoise in legends, leaving you to be happy, have fun, and seem wholesome in the presence of others; but slowly creeping back in when you’re alone.
She’s the one that lets you think you have done nothing with yourself, and then you count your blessings, but she says they don’t count.
She’s the anchor that doesn’t keep you steady but lets you sink further into the abyss until you cannot find yourself.
Should you fear her? No.
As cunning as she may be, you can control her.
Finding her weakness is quite easy if you know where to look.
She hates to be talked about, because then you know…
That with the right help you would be rid of her.
Shall I tell you an open secret?
MANI is here to help.
-Ebahi
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]]>Self-Doubt and Your Mental Health Read More »
The post Self-Doubt and Your Mental Health appeared first on Project Covid.
]]>Having self-doubt is not bad in itself because it exists to make us realise that we cannot always be right. By questioning ourselves, we can better examine our actions. Nevertheless, it is quite easy for us to constantly doubt ourselves in our quest to fit into a world of perfectionism.
The irony of this is that the more we doubt ourselves and our abilities, the less likely we are to feel motivated to achieve the things we want to achieve. Our quest for perfection thereby hinders us from achieving things, howbeit imperfectly.
Self-doubt is negative when it begins to affect the following.
How you judge your capabilities: When you doubt the things you can do, your ability to learn and adapt, your ability to be successful in a new task, etc., you limit yourself negatively. I am not saying that you should think you know everything; far from it! You should in fact know that you don’t know everything, but you can learn anything that you wish to know.
Your self-esteem: Your self-esteem can be badly damaged when you consistently engage in self-doubt. Although some will say self-doubt comes when there is already low self-esteem, it can be the other way around. Take for example, a person who failed a school course begins to doubt that he/she is as smart as he/she formerly thought. The doubt lingers and because of this, the person gets disinterested in studying. Of course, the person will probably fail again and this time around, the failure will reinforce the idea that he/she is just not good enough. Soon, the self-esteem of this person is badly damaged.
Your relationship with others: When you live with constant self-doubt, you will likely begin to judge yourself in comparison with others. And soon enough, you will start to avoid them, even their presence will bring feelings of displeasure to you. Also, you because of how harshly you judge yourself, you are likely to think that others judge you in the same way. This would make you avoid them.
Your relationship with yourself: Self-doubt affects your relationship with yourself. It makes you subconsciously sabotage yourself because you don’t believe in yourself. When you convince yourself that you can’t do something, you will make less of an effort. This eventually makes you not get what you wanted.
You can work on this by remembering to give yourself credit when due. Reassure yourself that you did the work for the things you have achieved and there is more that you can achieve. You can write a letter to yourself, give yourself a mental round of applause when you do something good, or celebrate your little wins with yourself and others who appreciate them. This does not mean you’re arrogantly bragging. You are only building yourself up for even more challenges and achievement- let this be your motive.
-Ebahi
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]]>Self-Compassion- Why Is It So Hard? Read More »
The post Self-Compassion- Why Is It So Hard? appeared first on Project Covid.
]]>Using myself as an example, I often comfort my friends when they fall short of their expectations from themselves. I tell them things like:
“You tried your best.”
“You can’t make the mistake again because you have learned.”
“You are doing the most you can, things will be better soon.”
“You are as awesome as they come, you didn’t miss the opportunity, they missed you.”
“It’s just bad timing, you deserve better”, and so on.
Yet to myself, I use negative words. I insult myself, degrade myself, shame myself, sometimes give myself mental and even physical slaps. Funny enough, I’m not alone in this; so many are in the habit of negative self-talk, refusing to let themselves relax, guilt-tripping themselves etc.
It is easy to confuse self-compassion with self-care. Self-care is very distinct from self-compassion. Hence, we may be practising self-care e.g., having a spa day yet we do not regard ourselves with compassion. The signs you are not practising self-compassion include.
For me, I now start with a simple question; ‘How would I treat a friend’? The answer to this question is what I try to apply to myself. It’s hardly easy to shun the negative thoughts but with practice, I aim to be able to. You also can do this.
Furthermore, you can try to write a constructive letter to yourself from a place of self-compassion about the things you do not like about yourself. Learning to forgive yourself for your errors and learning to spend time doing the things you love, are habits that bring you closer to self-compassion.
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]]>MANI Launches National Level Study On The Mental Health Impact Of Covid-19 on Nigerians Read More »
The post MANI Launches National Level Study On The Mental Health Impact Of Covid-19 on Nigerians appeared first on Project Covid.
]]>In August 2020, following the tremendous increase in the number of individuals reaching out to the organisation for psychosocial support following the lockdown in the country, the organisation commissioned Africa Polling Institute (API) to conduct a survey on the impact of the pandemic on the mental health of Nigerians. According to Ifedayo Ward, the Executive Director of MANI, the study became vital to understand the demand for mental health support the pandemic had created “we decided to commission a study to better understand the scale of impact of the pandemic on the mental health of Nigerians”. This study involved participants from all the geopolitical zones in Nigeria with the findings from the research as well as some recommendations, discussed at the launch.
Dr Dévora Kestel, Director, Mental Health And Substance Use (Global) at the World Health Organisation who gave the first keynote speech, highlighted the disruptions of the pandemic on mental health globally as well as the need for a well-rounded recovery. Dr Kestel disclosed that “more than 75% of people in low and middle income countries with mental health conditions are without quality and affordable mental health care”. She further revealed that the loss of productivity resulting from some of the most common conditions amounts to one trillion dollars each year. Dr. Kestel shared that “ COVID-19 pandemic has brought about the disruption of health services including mental health at a time where there is a need to invest more than ever in mental health; still on average, countries spend just about 2% of their health budget on mental health.”
While reiterating the need for action concerning mental health in Africa, Dr Florence Baingana – Regional Adviser for Mental Health And Substance Use (Africa) at the World Health Organisation said “of top ten countries in suicide rates, six are African countries, yet in Africa we have 1.2 mental health workers per 100,000 persons”.
Other panelists at the event, Dr Ifeanyi Nsofor- Senior New Voices Fellow – Aspen Institute, Joy Muhia – QualityRights Kenya Ço-Coordinator, Joshua Duncan – Lead, Mental Health Coalition, Sierra Leone; all gave more insight on the African response to the pandemic particularly regarding mental health and reinforced the need for higher government participation as well as the opportunities that can be harnessed from the pandemic.
In the final keynote speech of the day, Sarah Kline, Co-founder and CEO of United for Global Mental Health, revealed that United for Global Mental Health and Speak Your Mind Campaign partners have been able to assist the UN Secretary General to write and then launch a policy brief on COVID-19 and mental health. Kline added, “The work MANI is doing is important not just because of what it documents in Nigeria but also for how it illustrates the wider challenges now that we live with COVID-19”.
Giving the close remarks, Dr Julian Eaton – Director of Mental Health, CBM Global, stated “we have had a big shock on the system as a result of the pandemic. We should make use of the attention we are getting for mental health advocacy”.
On the scale that it was done, the study is the first of its kind in Nigeria and has been made available to the general public via MANI’s COVID-19 portal: project-covid.org/covid19study.
For more information about the study findings and recommendations, follow MANI @mentallyawareng on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, TikTok and Clubhouse or send an email to [email protected].
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]]>Workplace Behaviours Vs Mental Health Read More »
The post Workplace Behaviours Vs Mental Health appeared first on Project Covid.
]]>Exposure to verbal abuse at work can have a negative effect on one’s self-esteem. Verbal abuse at work can come in form of derogatory remarks, mockery, ‘polite insults’, teasing, etc. In today’s world, we hide a lot of verbal abuse under the umbrella of ‘joke’. It doesn’t matter whether those dishing this out can take it; we should generally treat people with respect.
Gaslighting at work happens when someone forces you to question the facts that you know to be true, yourself, and your ability to do your job. This can be to make you seem unproductive, insignificant, or to manipulate you. Gaslighting is terrible to the mental health of anyone and should have no place in a workplace.
Workplace bullying is the number one cause of workplace mental health issues. Victims of bullying at work can suffer dire consequences. These can range from anxiety, depression, panic attacks, even to PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder).
Aside from the negative influence on the individuals, negative behaviours at work will cost the organisation in the long run should they do nothing to fix it. The most immediate cost is loss in productivity. Secondly, the organisation’s reputation will suffer greatly which would influence its economical outlook. Furthermore, employee turnover will increase. This would mean the resources spent on training employees are not enjoyed in the long run. These are sufficient reasons to foster a favourable mental health environment at work.
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]]>Nigeria’s Mental Health Legislation- not progressive, but why? Read More »
The post Nigeria’s Mental Health Legislation- not progressive, but why? appeared first on Project Covid.
]]>The Covid-19 pandemic has exposed the need for better mental health care services. This is because social distancing increased feelings of isolation and loneliness. Although scientists are not particularly certain about how these feelings affect mental health, they increase mental health distress. Hence, it is no surprise that countries are tightening their belt regarding mental health care because of the exposure Covid-19 pandemic has created.
Nigeria’s mental health legislation is probably one of the world’s oldest. The country from which we inherited these laws (the United Kingdom) when they colonized us, has moved on to create better legislation. However, we are hugging tight this scrap of a legislation to our chest and refusing to let go. It is clear that as often experienced in our socio-political environment, those is power do not care about the citizens.
The Lunacy Act (Nigeria’s mental health legislation) is an insult to Nigerians just going by the name. A further dive into the legislation teaches you that some books should be judged by their covers. This law stigmatises and oppresses those with mental health conditions. The law creates room for violating human rights simply because a person has one mental health issue or another.
This write-up is not to teach the principles of democracy because arguments abound about the kind of democracy Nigeria practices; many have lost faith in our democracy. Nonetheless, for the fact that we have the power to vote in our leaders, we should take advantage of the power we have to make them accountable.
We can exercise this power by letting them know our demands right from the local level; even before giving them power. Furthermore, let us promote the use of instruments such as protests, recalls, to call their attention to aspects in which they are failing. We can vote them out when they do not take heed. Most importantly we can have citizen-sponsored bills to get the legislation we need.
In truth, majority of citizens are unaware of the power they wield. Hence, it is possible that the most productive immediate thing we can do as individuals is to educate those around us. Would you be doing that today?
Read more on mental health in Nigeria
-Ebahi
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]]>My Alcohol Addiction- A Story You Can Learn From Read More »
The post My Alcohol Addiction- A Story You Can Learn From appeared first on Project Covid.
]]>Soon enough my appetite grew and I began to slip a bottle from the drinks I bought, would use the change I was gifted to buy a drink and so on. By the time I was an older adolescent, I was already drinking regularly. I was showing signs of alcohol addiction but I didn’t know.
I never felt at my best if I didn’t have alcohol in my system. My final year in secondary school was the worst. I hated being in school and always looked forward to hanging around the field with the older boys. I wasn’t always a bright student but even my average scores suffered greatly because of my alcohol addiction. It came as no surprise when I failed my WAEC exams woefully.
I spent my days loitering around the neighbourhood while my classmates went on to get tertiary education. My addiction got the better part of me as I soon returned home everyday very tipsy. As is typical of Africans, my parents tried the beating route but it didn’t work, so they gave up. My father threw me out of his house in annoyance one faithful day, but that gave me even more freedom to indulge in my addiction.
I was lost, I had hit rock bottom. Basically, you could say that I was living to feed my addiction. I saw a post by a former secondary mate who had completed his tertiary education and had got a job as an engineer. This was what I wanted to be. I felt sad, took a look at my life and wished I had not taken the path of alcoholism. I rued the day I had a taste of alcohol as tears flowed down my face. At this point, I made a decision to turn my life around. It wasn’t an easy decision to make and an even harder decision to follow but I did it.
The first step I took was to distance myself from acquaintances and friends who were living the kind of life I was living. I continued with my menial jobs but rather than buy alcohol, I saved to rewrite WAEC and then JAMB. It took a lot of hard work and study to pass both examinations but I did it. Luckily for me, my parents took me back into their lives and now they pay for my study. I am a 300 level student of Mechanical Engineering in one of the Federal Universities in Nigeria. If I can overcome addiction, you too can.
See creatives on phone addiction
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