*STOP THE STIGMATIZATION*
*Fateemah Sumda*
Mental disorders are illnesses that affect mood ,thinking and behaviour of a person. They include depression, anxiety disorder, schizophrenia, eating disorder and even addictive behavior, etc.
Stigmatization is one of the challenges faced by many individuals all around the world. One can be stigmatized because of his/her race,gender,looks or even diseases.
Mental disorders are probably the most stigmatized diseases. I define metal illness stigmatization as a situation where persons suffering from mental illnesses are been disregarded, disgraced and considered unworthy to be members of the society. This issue of stigmatization has been existing for ages and it's due to lack of understanding and various misconceptions of the disorders. Mentally ill persons are considered unworthy to be a members of the society. So no much care is been given to them. They are rather left to deteriorate till they roam the street.
Stigmatization has made people scared of accepting to have the illnesses or seek medical help because they fear the social isolation they will suffer.The stigma doesn't only affect the sick individual but also their close relatives.
The misconception is so bad that if you suggest to a patient to see a psychiatrist it is consider an insult. You hear responses like "do you think am mad... " ,"God forbid..." etc.
They prefer to suffer than to open up and look for help.
Visiting a psychiatrist doesn't mean one is mad. It only means one is ill. I used the word mad because it is generally believed that a mad man is that half naked man roaming the streets eating garbage, and it is he who needs to see a psychiatrist. This is false as a psychiatrist is someone you can choose to visit when having persistent head aches, Mood swings,difficulty concentrating and lots more.
Mental illness is a challenge and not a problem. All you need to do is accept the challenge and cope well by seeking professional help.
Build self esteem, interact well with people and even educate them about your condition. Join a support group if you can. Know that you will always not be alone.
Remember you are not depression, you are not bipolar, you are not anxiety and even not schizophrenia. You only have a problem that has a solution.
Do you have or know anyone with mental illness...
Visit a psychiatrist today and stand against mental illness stigmatization.
*Looking for a support group?* Whatsapp through these contacts:
👉 +2347083349679
👉🏾 +2347066475176
Saturday, 28 April 2018
POETRY TALENT - DISASTER IN DISGUISE - FATIMA SUMDA
DISASTER IN DISGUISE
Water is a good slave
But wat sought of master is it
Its known to tame volcanoes and calm the desire in fire
Its water, the descendant if ice....
But...
Once this faithful servant becomes a master acursed
It is possessed by the evil of tornadoes
Displaying a hurricane of terror
Having no mercy as though its not the blessing we know
A scenery of broken dreams
Bowed trees and succumbed winds
Homelessness as well as diseases
Received unawares...
Indeed water in d spirit of flood
Is the worst master
By
Fatima Sumda
Thinkerbelle
Water is a good slave
But wat sought of master is it
Its known to tame volcanoes and calm the desire in fire
Its water, the descendant if ice....
But...
Once this faithful servant becomes a master acursed
It is possessed by the evil of tornadoes
Displaying a hurricane of terror
Having no mercy as though its not the blessing we know
A scenery of broken dreams
Bowed trees and succumbed winds
Homelessness as well as diseases
Received unawares...
Indeed water in d spirit of flood
Is the worst master
By
Fatima Sumda
Thinkerbelle
AN EXCERPT FROM “THE PRODIGIOUS LIFE OF AIRAKH” -Fitzkhamees, Khamis A.H.
AN EXCERPT FROM “THE PRODIGIOUS LIFE OF AIRAKH”
-Fitzkhamees, Khamis A.H.
Airakh, born to the family of Mallam Mukha in Jopla, is dark in complexion, relatively tall, and has a body and head in proportion. He is very inconspicuous, cheerful and seldom frowns. He is a garrulous and a taciturn being but his garrulity is only known by those so close to him. He is complacent and never a contender in life.
Airakh started schooling in his early years and in tandem with Qua’anic lessons from his Mum. He would go to school from 07:30 am to 01:00 pm and madrasah from 02:00 pm to 06:00 pm. The life was stressful but with constant reassurance from a caring mum everything went fine. “Wata rana sai labari” she had always said. He lost his father at the age of ten when he knew nothing about death and his burden moved on to the shoulders of his mother.
After his primary education, Airakh moved to Hisla College. Life at his new college was very adventurous. He made life term friends who are by his side to death. Despite his incognito personality, he diligently and reputably do well in his academics to the extent that his academic excellence is accorded by allies and foes alike.
Airakh’s class is full of confederates who buy any idea brought up without giving in much thought. They were bounded by the walls of solidarity. They would take it like men when it comes to friend’s offence. Rarely had a day passed without them punished for one offence or the other. They had the habit of going to the bush for hikes on Saturdays. In the bush they would swim and burn down trees.
Close to Hisla College is sited a game stations. Airakh with some of his class members would sneak out of school to the game station via Bluetooth, a drainage path in Hisla College. There was this day when Airakh absconded school for this game station. One knows how game stations are if one has ever been there, one will hardly know time, one will hardly desire to eat let alone pray, in fact, missing prayers in there is a norm. Unaware of time, Airakh spent the whole day at the game station. His mother, perturbed that he has never been so late from school went to the school to make an inquiry. She was told that he did not attend school that day. She searched wherever she could but Airakh was nowhere to be found. He returned late in the night that night and his mother removed the genies out of him.
When Airakh was in JSS 2&3, the place for extra curricula activity was no more the game station, it was changed to the river. The class now changed their style, they would meet after the school had closed and set for the river. Praise is due to the Almighty Lord Airakh survived the incidence that happened one day, they had been to the river as usual and they met some older boys at the river. One of the older boys pushed Airakh to a side deeper than his normal side and he almost got drowned if not for the Lord has brought help through the hands of a passer-by. In another day, Airakh’s JSCE registeration fee was stolen at the river. The boys contributed and raised the amount and that was how it was covered without it being known at home.
After JSCE, Airakh had tried to change school and the plan failed. He had to stay in his former school. He procured admission into SS1 B, social sciences. He did not like the social sciences and so he lodged his complaint with the examination/academic officer. After about a week or two, his class was not changed and Airakh changed to the science class himself. At first, he felt nervous whenever the examination officer went to the class. Things changed after the first trimester result was out. Airakh was then the class monitor and anytime test scripts were given, the boys would receive theirs handily and the girls would have to hance their hands and into the ceiling lied theirs. Odogun commends Airakh for that till this day. Airakh denounced the mantle of class monitor at the end of SS1.
From SS1, the boys were somewhat big boys and would go to neither the river nor the game station. They had found a new place, the Shinwake house, a house close to the school where food is served. The management of the school tried to stop students from patronising that house but to no avail. One unfortunate day the authorities stormed the Shinwake house and the boys were caught, punished and suspended from school with the condition to resume with their guardians. Airakh and one of the boys, Aja took to the school somebody they met on the streets and the issue was resolved.
At the end of SS2, the boys must be in their adolescence. They changed the position of their board under the pretext that they could not see the board clearly. They missed out some subjects in the last trimester of the class and luckily enough, none had repeated.
In SS3, the boys’ adamance was at its peak. They became big boys who yearn for girls. All the boys wrote and passed their SSCE and Airakh was no exception. When the other boys were gaining admission in various departments in different universities, Airakh could not gain admission because he spent his JAMB registration fee somewhere.
Currently, all the boys are in tertiary institutions except Airakh whose whereabouts is yet to be established and I am cocksure he has a bright future but we shall see in …
I look forward to the publication of the original version of “THE PRODIGIOUS LIFE OF AIRAKH”.
-Fitzkhamees, Khamis A.H.
Airakh, born to the family of Mallam Mukha in Jopla, is dark in complexion, relatively tall, and has a body and head in proportion. He is very inconspicuous, cheerful and seldom frowns. He is a garrulous and a taciturn being but his garrulity is only known by those so close to him. He is complacent and never a contender in life.
Airakh started schooling in his early years and in tandem with Qua’anic lessons from his Mum. He would go to school from 07:30 am to 01:00 pm and madrasah from 02:00 pm to 06:00 pm. The life was stressful but with constant reassurance from a caring mum everything went fine. “Wata rana sai labari” she had always said. He lost his father at the age of ten when he knew nothing about death and his burden moved on to the shoulders of his mother.
After his primary education, Airakh moved to Hisla College. Life at his new college was very adventurous. He made life term friends who are by his side to death. Despite his incognito personality, he diligently and reputably do well in his academics to the extent that his academic excellence is accorded by allies and foes alike.
Airakh’s class is full of confederates who buy any idea brought up without giving in much thought. They were bounded by the walls of solidarity. They would take it like men when it comes to friend’s offence. Rarely had a day passed without them punished for one offence or the other. They had the habit of going to the bush for hikes on Saturdays. In the bush they would swim and burn down trees.
Close to Hisla College is sited a game stations. Airakh with some of his class members would sneak out of school to the game station via Bluetooth, a drainage path in Hisla College. There was this day when Airakh absconded school for this game station. One knows how game stations are if one has ever been there, one will hardly know time, one will hardly desire to eat let alone pray, in fact, missing prayers in there is a norm. Unaware of time, Airakh spent the whole day at the game station. His mother, perturbed that he has never been so late from school went to the school to make an inquiry. She was told that he did not attend school that day. She searched wherever she could but Airakh was nowhere to be found. He returned late in the night that night and his mother removed the genies out of him.
When Airakh was in JSS 2&3, the place for extra curricula activity was no more the game station, it was changed to the river. The class now changed their style, they would meet after the school had closed and set for the river. Praise is due to the Almighty Lord Airakh survived the incidence that happened one day, they had been to the river as usual and they met some older boys at the river. One of the older boys pushed Airakh to a side deeper than his normal side and he almost got drowned if not for the Lord has brought help through the hands of a passer-by. In another day, Airakh’s JSCE registeration fee was stolen at the river. The boys contributed and raised the amount and that was how it was covered without it being known at home.
After JSCE, Airakh had tried to change school and the plan failed. He had to stay in his former school. He procured admission into SS1 B, social sciences. He did not like the social sciences and so he lodged his complaint with the examination/academic officer. After about a week or two, his class was not changed and Airakh changed to the science class himself. At first, he felt nervous whenever the examination officer went to the class. Things changed after the first trimester result was out. Airakh was then the class monitor and anytime test scripts were given, the boys would receive theirs handily and the girls would have to hance their hands and into the ceiling lied theirs. Odogun commends Airakh for that till this day. Airakh denounced the mantle of class monitor at the end of SS1.
From SS1, the boys were somewhat big boys and would go to neither the river nor the game station. They had found a new place, the Shinwake house, a house close to the school where food is served. The management of the school tried to stop students from patronising that house but to no avail. One unfortunate day the authorities stormed the Shinwake house and the boys were caught, punished and suspended from school with the condition to resume with their guardians. Airakh and one of the boys, Aja took to the school somebody they met on the streets and the issue was resolved.
At the end of SS2, the boys must be in their adolescence. They changed the position of their board under the pretext that they could not see the board clearly. They missed out some subjects in the last trimester of the class and luckily enough, none had repeated.
In SS3, the boys’ adamance was at its peak. They became big boys who yearn for girls. All the boys wrote and passed their SSCE and Airakh was no exception. When the other boys were gaining admission in various departments in different universities, Airakh could not gain admission because he spent his JAMB registration fee somewhere.
Currently, all the boys are in tertiary institutions except Airakh whose whereabouts is yet to be established and I am cocksure he has a bright future but we shall see in …
I look forward to the publication of the original version of “THE PRODIGIOUS LIFE OF AIRAKH”.
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