The Malady Called Depression
Fortunately, it is also treatable. Depression causes feelings of sadness and/or a loss of interest in activities once enjoyed. It can lead to a variety of emotional and physical problems and can decrease a person’s ability to function at work and at home.
According to WHO, Nigeria is by far Africa’s most depressed country already, with 7 million people diagnosed with the condition. In comparison, Ethiopia has 4.48 million, while the Democratic Republic of Congo has 2.87 million with depression. But far from being a big issue, depression, like other mental health issues in Nigeria, is shrouded in secrecy. Cultural traditions and social stigmas push many sufferers into isolation and away from seeking help.
The Nigerian National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, revealed that the unemployment rate of the third quarter stood at 18 million during the third quarter of 2017. Of this number, the unemployment rate of women between the ages of 18-65 stood at 21.1% while men stood at 16.5%. WHO, in 2017, also revealed that Nigeria is ranked as the leading country with the highest number of heads of households exhibiting depressive symptoms, in Africa with an estimated 22%. For people of this age, having a source of income is important.
The Nigerian man is worst hit by societal pressure and emotional abuse to get rich by any possible means at his prime or face the societal shame of being termed a failure. For the woman, a girl between the ages of 23-27 is expected to be married. To the youth, he has to grapple with his senior secondary school certifications and university admission, graduating and attempting to leave the unemployed 18 million Nigerians within the labour force, hence the spread of psychotic depression (which has one of its triggers as poverty).
Depression in Nigeria isn't caused by poverty or the inability to meet a certain standard raised by the society, but could also be caused by reproach or shying away from punishment for wrongs done. Some youths are also faced with failing to secure admission into the university of their choice by not meeting the cut-off marks and also not passing their entrance examination which could also lead to this malady.
One of them is a final-year student of the Department of Religion and Culture, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Samuel Elias, 25, who committed suicide by taking an insecticide, sniper.
His mother said Samuel could have died of depression, noting that he had been lamenting his inability to graduate from the UNN because of his final project.
She added that her son had also been unhappy with the way his late father’s family had allegedly abandoned them.
She stated, “I know two things he usually complained about – his inability to graduate from the UNN since 2016 because of the project that he had not finished as his classmates had all gone for their National Youth Service Corps programme.
“Also, how his father’s family in Ihechiowa in the Arochukwu Local Government of Abia State has abandoned us after my husband died. When people do things that are not acceptable in the society, and they've got the names needed to climb the ladder to the top, they easily get depressed because of the names the society will call them, after all, they are supposed to lead by example.
However, recent deaths of famous persons such as Anthony Bourdain, Kate Spade, and DJ Avicii points to the fact that depression is not respectful of success either. Their deaths reveal the similarity of the universal menace: a constant struggle between esteem, personal, and societal expectations and the peace that lies within.
Apart from Avicii, whose struggles were well documented, Bourdain and Spade put up a facade of happiness until their demises.
In Nigeria, Abuja to be precise, a gospel artist, Michael Arowosaiye, also committed suicide. The deceased was believed to be depressed over certain personal issues.
The death of a loved one, loss of a job or the ending of a relationship are difficult experiences for a person to endure. It is normal for feelings of sadness or grief to develop in response to such situations. Those experiencing loss often might describe themselves as being “depressed.”
Depression cuts across many phases faced by an individual, be it rich or poor, young or old, no one is too big to be depressed.
Sweeping this illness under the carpet has done nothing other than ravaging the very foundations and output of Nigerians. There is a need to create a society where health policies and regulations are strategically positioned to address any form of mental illness threatening the existence of its people. Psychologists, psychiatrists and a standard form of the procedure are needed more than ever.
The public must also realise that even the most severe case of depression can be treated either by medications, psychotherapy or, in severe cases, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). But treatment must be preceded by the acknowledgment that there is a problem.
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