Depression in an African home.

A lot of us can say that depression is not particularly a common health disturbance in Africa, and that’s not totally wrong, in fact the records say we’re very right; but now delving deeper into this social health issue, we might begin to question the verity of our claims. Do Africans experience more mental health disorders than the world is made to know about? Why do we have the minute number of mental health workers and psychiatrists? Could it be the case that we don’t need them?

Is it the case that we’re immune to depression and other mental health issues? Or that we are less prone to them than our counterparts in the western world? Could it be that Africans have been naturally selected (LOL), owing to our culture in which the roots of our strict parenting and sheer hardship stems from. Whatever be the case, this post is aimed at starting a discourse on depression as it occurs in the regular African home setting.
https://ugooblog..com/2020/03/depression-in-african-home_12.html
The question is- Has depression become a significant part of us that we fail to recognize it when it shows up in our homes?

What should we know in identifying depression?

It is indeed noteworthy that different people have different breaking points; the extent to which you would easily bend without as much as a tear might be someone else’s elastic limit, and that criticism that would roll off your back so quickly and with much ease is the exact same one that could kill another. The phrase ‘emotional intelligence’ has in current time gained quite a degree of popularity, and needful so as it's important that we acquire and make use of this social tool in a bid to tackle and rid African homes of depression. Wikipedia defines emotional intelligence as the capability of individuals to recognize their own emotions and those of others, discern between different feelings and label them appropriately, use emotional information to guide thinking and behavior and manage and/or adjust emotions to adapt to environments or achieve one’s goal(s).
This topic of discourse affects all age; children, adolescents, adults and the aged but for more close to exact description of this topic, I will be addressing the situation as it pertains to children and adolescents; in analyzing an individual’s personality, the role of their families and the society cannot be over emphasized. These are some of the ways these agents of socialization imprints on the young person’s personality marring behavior:

Neglect:
According to Erik Erikson’s 8 stages of psychosocial development, an infant is faced with the task to resolve between trust or mistrust depending on how responsive its parent or caregiver is; an unresponsive caregiver causes the infant to see the world as unsafe and unpredictable and so spawn feelings of mistrust and anxiety.
Familiar, yeah? We reside in a continent where attending to the emotional needs of one’s ward is not as important as the material needs; one where regular discourses with them are not necessary, a continent where listening for their opinions when making decisions that affect them is not the norm, one where the people think the little ones have virtually nothing to bring to the table so their chairs are pushed aside. Do we really think this cannot possibly shut them and keep them out? Rather than this, why not invite them over to share their views, make them part of the decision making process, and give them little tasks, achievement of which give them a sense of autonomy and would help improve their self-esteem.

Comparison: “Don’t you see what your mates are doing?” This particular question has in different forms been asked us while growing up and still comes up from time to time. I remember complaining to one of my Nigerian uncles about how much I hated it whenever my mum tried to weigh me up with a certain person, who at that time and now still is doing really well, he jeeringly answered that she does it and would continue to because she doesn’t want to keep a stupid child. A lot of parents imagine that by openly making comparisons of their children to others, they do a great deal of good to them and most times they actually do not intend any harm at all; craving your indulgence, permit me to equate this to a situation where the person, who (in all likelihood) the ward in question looks up to and has a very high esteem for doesn’t regard them in the same light but rather makes them feel hurt and inferior. It’s necessary to be their number 1 fan, as it helps them see that they are enough and needed. If there’s something to point out to them, a more charitable approach could be employed.
Trust me when I say that within young people, there already is a lot of measuring up going on, they compare themselves with their peers at school activities, sport, socials, family etc. it will certainly be unfair to add unto that burden.

Abuse:
When a young person has to deal with constant and insistent abuse, it never tells well on them. Abusive relationships harm even those who are emotionally competent, and the most effective line of action as we all know is staying away from the source of abuse. This , however should be advised them at any point when the need arises, most likely when the source is a friend or a classmate. But what happens when the source is the supposed care-giver, the supposed- to- be support system? Extra care should be taken when attending to the short-comings of young people, it’s necessary to be firm, objective, and also that obedience is enforced but this should not be done with any manner of scurrility as (dependent on individuals) it could leave a permanent dent on their self-esteem or make them become just as abusive or worse, here the two possible outcomes are losses.
Other helpful ways I suggest could go a long way in ridding African homes of depressed younger member include:-

-constructive criticism:
Constructive criticism according to freebase is the process of offering valid and well- reasoned opinions about the work of others, usually involving both positive and negative comments, in a friendly manner rather than an oppositional tone. This could be employed in our homes, it is not okay to harass the young ones about how much of a mess they make of things placed under their responsibility, objection coupled with charity has always made for a good couplet.

-Parents could really try to refrain from humiliating children or ward in a bid to correct them.

-show of trust and affection to family members especially when they need it; this will mean being attentive to the emotional needs of her members.


Finally, I’m sure a lot of us relate to some if not all of the experiences born in these points. It’s okay to share your views.
Thank you!
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