13 Sep 2023

Unlike many people who fear being stigmatized, Dr Molapisi has come out of the depression fire and returned with water to save those who are still burning.

Doctor Neo Molapisi is a 33-year-old depression survivor from Mapoka in the North East District.

He holds a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery from the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal. His penchant to serve people is the reason he opted for this career.

“I want to leave a positive mark on each patient I attend”, he said with a smile.

He revealed that from a young age, he discovered he had episodic sadness which could not be explained.

He did not enjoy activities that his peers found interesting, instead, he was always indoors.

When he got to university, it became clear that he had depression and needed treatment.

“I was now living my life in a robotic autonomy of getting up, doing my assignments and sleeping.”

He said he then started suffering from multiple episodes of depression with periods of good health remission.

Some of the depression symptoms he experienced were depressed mood, lack of appetite, low energy, excessive sleepiness and insomnia at times, as well as a lot of unjustified guilt.

Dr Molapisi said it was then that he got curious to learn more about his condition and he started researching more about depression.

Fortunately for him, this did not affect his studies, “I continued excelling though I missed a lot of classes. I compensated by studying at night”, he added.

Dr Molapisi said it was difficult for people to notice that he was going through a rough season as his relationship with people was good and he knew how to control his emotions.

He said the other challenge was that he preferred a solitude and quiet environment making it difficult for him to participate in social activities.

He said at first he was firmly against taking antidepressants but later understood that they were a tool to support his recovery.

Taking medication every day helped calm his emotions most of the time.

“During my journey of depression, I saw myself turning into a skilled mental health professional, he said.

His therapy sessions helped him organise the jumbled-up emotional mess in his brain into concepts and ideas.

 “Someday, I hope we will live in a world where depressed people will be given similar treatment by those around them the same way people with other illnesses were embraced”, he said.

The fact that Batswana were gradually getting more informed about depression will help decrease stereotypes about the condition.

There was a need, he stated, also for the psychiatric wing of preventive medicine to intensify educational awareness initiatives on mental health.

Platforms such as radio, television and many others could be used as conduits to teach people about mental health.

Dr Molapisi has in a further attempt to take the fight against depression head-on penned a book titled, “When suicide beckons; The Deep Pit of Depression”, which details his life story as a depression survivor and goes on to share clinical and academic information on many subjects.

He is hopeful that the 134-page book will have a far-reaching impact in improving the mental health of the readers.

Dr Molapisi has also employed the use of his two Facebook pages namely Dondie Neo Molapisi and Dr Dondie.

“I have also hosted a wellness day in Mapoka in collaboration with the District Health Management Team (DHMT) in 2022 on the subject,” he said.

He said men should not allow modern-day perceptions of manhood to prevent them from reaching out for help when they feel emotionally drained.

When advising the youth who are currently going through a rough patch, he said:

“Life is a beautiful balance of the good and bad. Any challenge encountered gets you better for the next level, so don’t give up”, he gave counsel adding that men should never hesitate to seek help every time they were emotionally drained.

“I am a real person who had real depression, and I cannot emphasize how much alive it feels to escape that trap of darkness.” Ends