The Mind Builders

Taking a look at the trending news in the past months in Nigeria, one would find out that virtually everyone becomes ‘mental health counselor’ giving all sorts of advice on how to deal with depression. Of course, the fact remains that suicide is a major public health problem worldwide. But then, is it a matter everyone can discuss? Obviously NO! It is a sensitive matter meant to be discussed only by the trained ones. Although mental health awareness is slowly becoming a mainstay of the contemporary media, historically, Nigerians believed depression is “white men sickness”! Presently, one would wonder about the Nigerian perception of mental health, considering the drastic increase in suicide rate in the country. A publication by the World Health Organization released on the 29 th of July 2018 ranked Nigeria fifth among the top suicide prone countries. The top four being South Korea, Russia, India and Japan, and developed countries including US, France, South Africa, Australia and