PeersArena Is an online support group platform that is designed to bring together people who are going through or have gone through similar experiences by providing a safe online environment to share experiences and learn from others who are facing similar obstacles.
We also introduced "Inside D'Arena" podcast, a podcast series where people share their stories anonymously or otherwise in other to educate and help people going through a similar situation or suffering from the same issues. 

Weekly we will be bringing you issues around protecting our mental health and discussions on how to heal and create a balanced lifestyle.

Living With Grief

Yomi was a postgraduate student at the University of Lagos, Nigeria. He had a promising future and with the help of his father, he was going to become a great surgeon. During the preparation for his final exam he received a call that his dad was sick, he went home and discovered that his father had died. To him, his world was crumbling, someone he spoke to a few days ago was no more and he couldn't understand life anymore. He thought about how his father was the reason he wanted to be successful, and now he was not going to be there when he finally achieves his goals, he was already making plans with his father for his graduation ceremony celebration. He was quickly going to have to come to terms with the weight of responsibility that came as a result of the death of his father. Being the eldest of his siblings he was going to become the ‘man of the house.

Death is inevitable and everybody in life at some point will experience the loss of a loved one or a pet. . The record shows that a child is born every second and science states that the crude birth rate is 18.2 per 1000 population and where there is life, there is death. It is estimated that an average of 56 million deaths occur in a year and there is a balance between life and death.

There is a paradox at the center of loss which is; grief is the most intense pain there is, and we will do anything to avoid such pain, so we run away from our grief, and the grief of other people. The manner of approach that men and women process grief is different; for women, they are more emotional and tend to work it out by talking about it and expressing their emotions and men tend to be more comfortable, they see grief as something that has to pass immediately and make new plan focusing on new horizons. At the end of the day, we all need to process grief in other for us to move forward.

Someone going through loss could experience waves of intense and difficult symptoms like fear, shock, despair, sadness, regret, even anger, and these experiences can also be physical like weight gain, appetite change, changes in the sleep cycle, effect on the immune system. There are five stages of grief:

Denial; - This can’t be happening to me

Anger; - Why is this happening? Who is to blame?

Bargaining; - Make this not happen and in return, I will

Depression; - I'm too sad to do anything

Acceptance; - I'm at peace with what happened

The grieving process takes time and healing happens gradually; it can't be forced or hurried and there is no normal timetable for grieving. The constant thing about death or losing a loved one is the fact that you are always reminded whenever a significant event happens in life for Yomi, all he could think about on his graduation as he wished his father was there to congratulate and celebrate with him and during tough times he would wish his father was there to guide him. Yomi also developed different techniques to forget about the pain that had been caused by his father's demise. The point derived from his story is that whenever a positive or negative event occurs we are constantly reminded of people we have lost and it simply means that grief is always going to be a part of our lives and we all need to acknowledge that, he noted his father was gone and has completed his mission on earth.

This phase is important to start the healing process towards rejuvenation of the body, soul, and spirit. People tend to be scared about approaching a grieving individual but the best mechanism is to allow the individual to lead the discussion because how the affected individual will take the help rendered might be different. More so, seeking help from individuals that have gone through or are going through the same situation(peer support group) is often very helpful, not expressing your grief is to set yourself up for a lifetime of lack of connection to life, illness, bitterness, and anger. To further have a feel of Yomi’s experience with grief, listen to his experience on[url][/url]https://insidedarena.com/?page_id=6n Inside D' Arena Podcast

Why Counseling Is Beneficial

At a certain point in life, we do feel confused right? Maybe not confused but in between taking the right decision about one certain important thing in life, or we feel pressurized about something that hurt or takes a deep slide on our emotions. What then do we need to do?

According to the UK’s NHS website, it defines counseling is: “A talking therapy that involves a trained therapist listening to you and helping you find ways to deal with emotional issues.”

You’d agree with me that we both have issues that we can never solve, the hectic traffic, the demanding boss, the work stress, that unfulfilled career, having to survive, having to sort bills, that family pressure, that heartbreak; which all accumulates to cause depression, anxiety, poor parenting skills, psychosocial adjustment, antisocial behaviors, alcohol use, and family conflict and most importantly mental disorder.
Accepting your mental health issues is the way to healing. Let go of the past in order to make room for the present and future.

Talking to someone who has empathy or someone who knows how to understand you can help alleviate the stress you are feeling. This way, you can air out what you are feeling without being judged. As a result, you get to feel better and you can understand how to cope with what you are going through

To get a glimpse of the position and importance of a counselor, listen to ‘Finding [https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy83MjAzNTJiMC9wb2RjYXN0L3Jzcw/episode/OWY3MmM1ZDUtOWNlYi00MzQ4LThiMTEtMDU4OWM/url]Meaning’ an episode on Inside D' Arena [url][https://insidedarena.com/?page_id=6/url]Podcast.

How To Survive An Abusive Relationship

Do you know that intimate partner violence against women has been recognized as a public health problem that has adverse effects on the physical, mental and reproductive health of a woman? IPV (Intimate Partner Violence) is any behavior within an intimate relationship by a partner that causes physical, psychological, or sexual harm to their partner.

STEPS TO SURVIVE AN ABUSIVE RELATIONSHIP

· Accept who you are and prioritize yourself first also acknowledge when you are being treated improperly.

· There are common red flags (aggressive jealousy, controlling behavior, isolates you from everyone else, blames others for their problem or their feeling, they are Hypersensitive)

· Set boundaries; know when to say no to things you are not comfortable with

· Repeat healing and positive affirmation

· Educate yourself about abuse

· Build a strong support

· Never be too afraid to ask for help

There’s no solid reply to how long it will take for an individual to heal from any type of abusive relationship. What is important is that practice self-love, join a support group where you can rub minds share your experiences with those going through same as you at Peers Arena, setting boundaries among others can also bring you the peace needed for survival. Listen to others share their experiences from their Perfectly Imperfect Relationships on the peer’s Arena podcast[https://insidedarena.com/?page_id=6/url], share your thoughts, comment, or send us a message on Instagram[url][https://instagram.com/peers_arena?utm_medium=copy_link/url] if you would like to share your experience anonymously.