EFIWE HEALTH: Depression, Volunteering & The "Mindset"


Alao Abiodun | June 14th 2018

"There is really no immunity against depression and no proven vaccine yet. Depression is a silent killer" - Anonymous

As a team under the insignia of Ibadan Volunteers Hub which specializes on the mental health of humans especially Nigerians, the expression on our various faces when we read, hear or watch issues pertaining to depression, suicidal attempts and eventual suicide itself is indeed heartrending and worrisome especially with the rising cases of suicide in Nigeria.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) in its 2017 World Health Day message, it highlighted that 7,079,815 Nigerians suffer from one of the most ignored and misunderstood form of mental disorder in the country – depression - which therefore represents 3.9 per cent of the entire population; making Nigeria, according to the current prevalence rate, the most depressed country in Africa. Globally, Seychelles has the lowest number of depressed persons with just 3,722. It also explained that  4,894,557 Nigerians which is 2.7 per cent of the population, suffer from anxiety disorders. All these are indeed testament to the fact that there are plethora of mental health problems facing Nigeria as a Nation.

Sadly, everyone has one time in their life experienced depression irrespective of the status. People and celebrities we see on social media daily pretending to be happy are silently suffering from severe or maybe mild depression but they gloss over their lifestyle on social media, hence all those stunts they put up are make believe. Unfortunately, with the rising trend of alarming suicide and suicidal attempt as a result of depression then it shows something is wrong "fundamentally".



While some people are strong enough to hold it, many others are not. The experiences we read daily in the dailies shows that people are really passing through a lot, hence we shouldn't judge people unless we know the reasons for their egregious actions. Some people utter hurtful words which could hurt some individuals self esteem and as such lead to eventual depression because all these boils down to "Emotional well-being" and "mental health". Sometimes underachievement could lead to depression. It makes one feel lesser than one can actually be, but there is something else too

Depression which leads to eventual suicidal is quite real and it kills, there have been so many stories here and there, but Nigerians seem to take it less seriously. As humans we are all susceptible to general feelings of sadness, negativity, helplessness and emptiness. However, major depressive moods are highly distinguished and identified by its severity, persistence and duration. Often times, when we are faced with life problems, what we all need is a sympathetic ear, someone to understand and accept the validity of one's feelings and to empathize. It could be a completely misplaced impulse.

One cool evening, Stacy parked her 2017 Range Rover Sports car and stepped out of the car barefooted, she parked in a corner of the Èkó Bridge, and she stared at the long stretch of road before her looking dazzled and embattled, the night was windy but she didn’t feel the chilliness of the air around her as she began to walk blindly. Cars raced past her speedily with some eagle eyed passersby noticing the well-dressed woman walking alone on the lonely bridge but the cars were moving too fast for anyone to take notice that she had no shoes. Sadly, she was walking close to the edge of the bridge, her hand trailing the railings and the rest was history.

There is really no immunity against depression because no matter the level of one's success, wealth & the happy faces seen on social media, we are all facing different life challenges. Even in the midst of these suicidal crisis and depressive matters, it's expedient to tilt towards a paradigm shift as regards exploring the opportunities of volunteering because one must begin to live, own and nurture healthy support systems through speaking out when going through challenges that are taking a toll on one's emotions.

Depression is a silent killer hence one must face every fears moulding up. It's necessary for one not to avoid the things they find difficult. It's good to embrace the association of growing individuals who seeks to develop the mental health challenges and crisis which in turn helps to simultaneously encourage social interactions.

Sharing a problem with someone or with a group (team of volunteers) can give one support and insight into solving issues of depression especially through improved social interactions, gaining much skills from various activities. Interestingly, one of the major way to tackle depression is not to allow negative thoughts block the improvement and flow of one's happiness. If you're finding it difficult to motivate yourself, then you need to associate yourself with people who are constantly in touch with selfless, passionate and emphatic services to the society.


Alao Abiodun writes for Ìbàdàn Volunteers Hub, Ìbàdàn, Ọ̀yọ́ State in commemoration of its (4) months of passionate and selfless volunteering towards a worthy cause through a campaign themed "say no to depression" and "mental health & volunteering". He can be reached via ~ Alaojoshua200@gmail.com

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