TAFADZWA Meki, the founder of Someone Always Listens Toyou (S.A.L.T Africa) an organization that advocates for mental health issues in Zimbabwe said people should not ignore the tell-tell signs of mental health in their family members and peers as these develop over time and may lead to tragic outcomes such as as suicide and advanced mental illness.
By Patricia Mashiri
In an interview with HealthTimes, Meki said people should be on the lookout on how they behave, attitude and feelings towards certain things as holding on to things for a long time may cause outburst which may lead to suicides, murder among others.
It is imperative for individuals to keep track of their emotions, behaviour, and reaction and to regularly communicate with their mind. In a world where life is so fast and technology is at our finger tips, we can easily fail to see what and how much we are taking in and storing in a “to do” corner of the brain. As a result of busy schedules and living to achieve goals/ targets we often forget to re energize the mind that processes all the work. We need to look at mental health the same way we look at gadgets, phones and computers.
“Build up in the mind’s storage section (as do gadgets) can potentially lead to virus cropping storage full messages being communicated to is but because we are busy we tend to ignore and keep pushing. Just like gadgets, a virus may lead to a complete systems failure, the mind however fails to cope and that’s when mental illness crops up; suicidal ideations, depression, anger outbursts among others. What society sees is violence, temper, mood swings but the source is what is critical. Our brain can only carry so much.”
She added that it was important to watch signs and symptoms of mental health so as to know what, when and where to do certain things.
“All things being equal, we need to constantly regulate our schedules into those that keep our mental health in check. It is important to take note of the messages our brain communicates to us, fatigue, distress, sleepiness, sadness, upset, hunger. This is then manifestes into headaches, muscle pain tightness in the chest, dizzy spells (these symptoms may not be conclusive) . When we feel a certain way we need to step back, take a look at what it is we are not doing or over doing. Drinking water to stay hydrated, taking walks, spending time with nature; this is commonly misunderstood, nature and walks do not always come with a price tag.
“A walk in the park, a jog dancing in your room, opening windows to get fresh air, chatting with others to hear how life is treating other people may be an intermediate way of fighting mental illness. Watching our diet works too, avoiding deep fried food, eating vegetables and fruits. Taking time off social media is important, sometimes it gets overwhelming. Most importantly, encouraging yourself to keep going, you are doing the best you can in your given circumstance. We often are too hard on ourselves,” Meki said.
