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
The post Foundations of a Good Mental Health Routine appeared first on Project Covid.
]]>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.
The post Is Shyness a Mental Illness? appeared first on Project Covid.
]]>Mental wellness of lawyers in Nigeria Read More »
The post Mental wellness of lawyers in Nigeria appeared first on Project Covid.
]]>A lawyer being responsible for another human being is a difficult task, and in a bid to carry out their legal duty, they tend to neglect taking care of their own mental wellness. Legal practitioners are cerebral thinkers and are seen by the society as unemotional in how they discharge their legal duties which requires a lot of sacrifice and dedication.
In their quest to provide the best service for their clients they must also strive to take good care of themselves and recognize certain triggers that will be detrimental to their mental health. There is a Maxim that says “you cannot give what you do not have” –nemo dat quod non habet. It is important to take care of oneself and look after one’s mental health, to be enabled to satisfactorily meet the needs of clients.
As legal practitioners, providing services for clients’ needs us to take care of ourselves and not sacrifice our mental health; we need to take a break when we must, as a healthy mind contributes to healthy justice architecture as well as positive mental productivity.
The International Bar Association (IBA) is deeply concerned about the wellbeing within the legal profession and formed a taskforce to drive the work forward and incorporate not only institutions and individuals but also regulatory and representative bodies as well as other key stakeholders within this dialogue.
It is generally accepted that the importance of mental health of the legal community needs greater recognition and action. A full report of the IBA Presidential Task Force was launched at the meeting with global experts on legal wellbeing issues on Tuesday, 26 October 2021 which sets out ten (10) principles for dealing with mental wellbeing crisis in the legal profession. The report confirmed that mental health has a disproportionate impact on women, young people, ethnic minority and people with disabilities.
The first step to beating the stigma is to stop treating mental illness as taboo. Whether it’s an article you read, a show you watched, or a personal experience you had, talking about it openly and without shame will help others realize they aren’t alone.
The Culture that prioritizes psychological well-being helps employees who are struggling to feel safe and encourages everyone to improve their mental health. It also prescribes the behaviours that are appropriate within the workplace. Corporate leaders should take this more seriously in order to improve the organizational culture and remove the stigma.
Mental health is fundamental to individual organizational and national well-being. Specifically, the work environment should be psychologically safe and equal attention should be given to promoting both the physical and mental well-being of all individuals in the workplace. Law has been described as a profession characterized by high pressure and competitive environment, and a legal practitioner’s work value is often defined by excessive working hours, statutory time limits/deadlines, all of which exposes the legal practitioner to higher incidences of anxiety, stress, and mental illness.
This article explains the culture of mental wellness in the workplace in Nigeria, with emphasis on the mental well-being of legal practitioners. It expatiates on the causes and the negative effects of poor mental wellness of legal practitioners and how organizations can implore multilateralism to address issues on mental wellness. It also highlights existing policies and initiatives that cater to the mental well-being of legal practitioners not only in Nigeria but globally.
Kindly click here to see the full article on the IBA website.
-By Isibor Aigbe Oaikhinan (Member International Bar Association (IBA), Taskforce on Mental Wellbeing for Africa.
Twitter: @isibams, Instagram: @isibams, LinkedIn
The post Mental wellness of lawyers in Nigeria appeared first on Project Covid.
]]>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
The post The Untold Story of Depression appeared first on Project Covid.
]]>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
The post Self-Doubt and Your Mental Health appeared first on Project Covid.
]]>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.
The post Self-Compassion- Why Is It So Hard? appeared first on Project Covid.
]]>‘NO’- The word we often misunderstand Read More »
The post ‘NO’- The word we often misunderstand appeared first on Project Covid.
]]>You could choose to see the word in a positive light. Motivational speakers will tell us that receiving a ‘No’ gives you even more reasons to strive for a ‘Yes’; they are not wrong. When you are told no concerning a new idea, plan, etc., you can either choose to see it as the test for your level of conviction about that plan or you can choose to see it as the end of that plan.
So many of us have often crossed lines we did not wish to cross, trampled on our mental health, strained ourselves physically because we don’t t know how to say ‘no’. It’s a word we must learn to make use of appropriately. Taking care of your mental health involves self-care, setting boundaries and doing the things that are best for your mental health. This includes saying ‘no’ when you need to.
– Ebahi
The post ‘NO’- The word we often misunderstand appeared first on Project Covid.
]]>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].
The post MANI Launches National Level Study On The Mental Health Impact Of Covid-19 on Nigerians appeared first on Project Covid.
]]>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.
The post Workplace Behaviours Vs Mental Health appeared first on Project Covid.
]]>The Role of Teachers in Mental Health Amongst Children Read More »
The post The Role of Teachers in Mental Health Amongst Children appeared first on Project Covid.
]]>Often times, they may not realise it but their imprints on the children in their care have a lasting effect. Take for example how we saw an outpouring of love on them yesterday (World Teachers Day). Some of us personally took to our social media to talk about our most memorable experiences in school. We even sent our favourites text messages to show our appreciation. Even at MANI, we had a throwback to a mental health training which we did for teachers in collaboration with Act Foundation and Access Bank.
Yes! It goes without saying that they should be sufficiently trained to handle mental/emotional distress amongst the children in their care. More than this, they should be able to foster a classroom environment that improves mental wellbeing.
The ability of teachers to identify issues amongst students that may be mental health related, and the readiness of the school to partner with parents to address these issues can lead to a reduction in cases of depression, suicide ideations etc. amongst school-aged children.
Essentially, we should all do what we can to empower them with mental health knowledge. With assistance from school owners, the Ministry of Education, and parent’s association, teachers can be adequately empowered. Can you imagine a Nigeria that does not treat mental health with stigma at the foundation level? This would in the long run, eradicate stigma entirely.
Read on Practical Ways for Schools to Manage Mental Health Among Students
The post The Role of Teachers in Mental Health Amongst Children appeared first on Project Covid.
]]>