A topic that is not talked about enough among Nigerian students, yet that is highly crucial is mental health. For a majority of Nigerian students, ‘mental health’ seems like a foreign word. Although the word is more heavily used these days, there is still a lack of sufficient discussion or even education about this topic, and we are here to change that.
Most Nigerian students are terribly disconnected from mental health care. I mean, if you ask an average Nigerian ‘hope you are taking care of your mental health”, their response would be something along the lines of “why you dey talk like a white kid?” Nigerian students seem to have branded mental health problems as a ‘white kid’ problem, which is actually quite interesting, as a lot of Nigerian students go through a lot of mental health issues.
As a Nigerian student, you go through a lot of experiences that can take a heavy toll on your mental health — the constant ASUU strike, the heavy workload, ridiculous expectations from lecturers, financial strain amongst others. For a young student that goes through these experiences on a regular basis, these kinds of experiences can largely affect how you interact or go about your daily life. These experiences can slowly push you to depression without you even realizing it.
Fola*, a student of the University of Lagos said — “ for a long time, I dealt with anxiety. Anytime resumption approached or a result was about to be released, I always felt this fast beating in my heart, my feet turned cold, and I found it hard to breathe. I went through this for a long time, but you know, I never really minded it. I thought — it’s just stress, just fear, that’s all. I never even thought it could be anxiety or that anxiety could be that serious. I mean, we use anxiety in our daily interactions, ‘I’m anxious’ is a pretty common statement, so I really never minded it. All these changed the day I collapsed. I was feeling as I usually did until I suddenly fainted. It was pretty serious. I was in the hospital for an entire week. My attitude to mental health care changed completely. I have been paying close attention to what and how I feel ever since.”
For Fola, she had to completely break down before she could start taking conscious effort into taking care of her mental health, but you don’t have to wait until that happens before making an attempt to take care of YOU mentally as much as you do physically.
Mental health is highly important, and can not be overemphasized enough. Taking regular checks to care for your mental health goes a long way in your interactions with others, how you approach situations, and can even increase your productivity in a mind-blowing way.
Here are a few simple yet effective things you can do to care for your mental health;
- Breathe intentionally — I bet in your mind you are wondering, “of course I already breathe, silly’. And of course you do. But hear me out, have you ever sat down for a few minutes and just breathe? I mean taking deep breaths and zeroing your mind from everything else. Forget about those tests, that assignment or lab report — just sit down and breathe. It improves your mental health and keeps you sane.
2. Talk to someone — Are you going through a rough time in school? Are you bothered about how well you might perform? Do you constantly have doubts about yourself? Talk to someone you trust. Don’t keep the emotions all bottled up; let them out. The more you talk about them, the less burdened you feel and the better for your mental health.
3. Keep a journal — Keeping a journal keeps you more in control of how you feel. It lets you take control of your life and be the one driving your emotions and not the other way around.
I hope that henceforth, you start viewing taking care of your mental health in a different light, and start taking care of your mental health as though your life depends on it, because it does.
Stay Nerdy!
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Fola* (not real name).
