16 May 2017

The World Health Organisation anticipates that by 2030 depression will be the leading disease if action is not taken.

Speaking at a panel discussion at the University of Botswana yesterday (May 15), the founder of Botswana Network for Mental Health, Ms Charity Kennedy said they had realised that Batswana do not know anything about mental illness hence the need to empower and provide public information with campaigns such as CLINDEP campaign.

CLINDEP was a campaign that was mounted by UB students in April with the message that “Depression does not call for oppression.”

The campaign’s manager, Mr Thabang Sesenko explained that the main reason they mounted the campaign was not only to raise awareness about clinical depression, but to also reduce the stigma that was linked with mental health in Botswana.

Ms Kennedy stated that mental health was the most stigmatised disease in the country.

She said people were called names and treated in a certain way in everyday life, adding that a line has been drawn between mental and physical health.

She emphasised that love, support and respect healed more than medication.

“Let’s talk prevention because prevention is better than cure,” she noted.

Ms Kennedy explained that by prevention she meant that people could avoid prolonged stress before it got out of hand as well as to learn how to deal with issues in a better way.

She added that even knowing what to do and who to talk to when they feel overwhelmed was helpful.

Furthermore, she noted that as much as people could go to the hospital when they have a fever, they could do the same with depression.

Ms Kennedy said there was no specific cause of depression, but that there were situations that could lead to depression such as the loss of loved ones, family history or chronic illness.

She said signs of depression included being moody, insomnia, withdrawal, increased appetite and others, but that people should never self-diagnose to avoid taking wrong medication for the wrong reasons.

Ms Dikatso Selemogo from Embrace Emotions commended the UB students for the campaign.

“The fact that none of you is from a psychology class but you found it fit to start such a campaign is amazing,” Ms Selemogo said.

She said their mandate was to also raise awareness, provide support groups and advocate rights for people living with mental health.

She stated that their organisation was open to work with any organisation willing to help, as Botswana lacked research and relied on research from other countries.

Ms Selemogo encouraged people living with mental illness to use other coping strategies, including exercising and yoga.

The CLINDEP facilitators explained that they held a seminar at the laboratory auditorium at UB and have gone to Nanogang Junior Secondary School, given pamphlets and questionnaires to people at random to sensitise the public about mental illness. ENDS