Africa-Press – Botswana. World Health Organisation fears that Depression will be a major cause of death by 2030.
It is against this background that when called to sensitise Africa Evangelical Church women’s conference on issues of health, BONEPWA counsellor, Ms Neo Simon pleaded with Christians to help demystify and clear misconceptions regarding mental health problems, one of which is depression.
Among the societal misconceptions regarding mental health, Ms Simon said, was that mental institutions were for those that had lost their minds, which bred stigma.
Another misconception, she said, was that counselling was for white people and that people seeking counselling services were those who had a lot of money to spare. She said due to ignorance, the term depression was often misused to mean frustration or stress, while in actual sense, it was a much more serious condition.
She listed signs of depression as; sleeplessness or too much sleep, loss of appetite or excessive eating, low energy levels, being suicidal, irritability or mood swings, loss of motivation and interest in self-care and life in general.
Ms Simon said severe depression was when a person showed all the signs while mild depression was when someone presented only three of the signs.
Ms Simon decried the indifferent attitude that some parents displayed towards suicidal children, only to suffer regret and trauma when such children had committed suicide.
“We need to be aware of the signs and take action because among the many mental illnesses, Africans suffer depression the most,” she said.
Ms Simon said childhood trauma played a role in one’s adult life, explaining that a child who was traumatised would grow up to be an attention-seeker or one with low confidence.
She linked some cases of gender-based violence to depression that had been left for too long, saying a person who bottled things inside could only take so much and when they reached a certain level they would snap and do the unthinkable.
She also warned that depression led to non-communicable diseases such as high blood pressure.
Ms Simon said people should learn to listen when approached by those going through rough patches, saying they should avoid responses such as; pray about it, go tlaa siama, ga se koo ke kwano.
She added that it was better to refer someone than to dismiss them.
“Let’s use counselling facilities at our disposal. These centres have professionals such as psychiatrists, psychologists, counsellors,” she said, adding that such services if used could help the nation’s mental health situation, which she said was deteriorating.
AEC women had a two-day women’s conference themed; Exploring Women Resilience in the Last Days, where women preachers alternated the podium in a bid to encourage fellow Christians to embrace, among others, mindset change for the church’s edification.
For More News And Analysis About Botswana Follow Africa-Press
