(all photos taken from google.co.ke)
(apa.org)
It is time to accept the facts;
we are all dealing with depression. It has become the number one chronic
illness that seems to be killing people each and every day. This depression
comes from the truth that we are all trying to be perfect.
Let us start here in Africa. We
are trying as much as we can to be like other developed nations. We hate the
color of our skin. We hate that we live in Africa (how many people want to move
out of Africa? Let us ask the unfortunate people dying in the Mediterranean Sea
crossing to Europe). We hate the color of our skin (it would seem it is no
longer the blacker the berry, it is more the whiter the juice). We want to be rich;
money is our new ‘god’. We want to be slim, just like the celebrities, or have
flashy biceps and triceps. We cannot achieve all these without working hard,
but with the amount of corruption and negative images of Africa, we all fall
into depression. The ’dark continent’ which has been dubbed a country despite
the numerous differences we have. We have left our mother tongues and we all
want to speak our colonial masters’ language (I fall in this category very
badly, with the unfortunate realization that I belong to three cultural
communities in Kenya, I need a beating). We no longer appreciate our cultural
values; we have thrown them to the gutter and want to be more ‘western’. There
are people who still have their values put together, there are those who know
their mother tongue off head, there are people who still love Africa, but with
the continuing trends? I am not sure.
Let us walk in Nairobi today. Do
you see the streets, do you see the shops; do you see the vehicles passing by,
hooting at you, do you see the matatus speeding across the road, trying to get
more customers? Now look at your phone, to find which street you are in, You
need cash, your phone has it; You are bored, play games in your gadget; You
need to socialize, my goodness, so many social networks to choose from. Charlie
Chaplin said that what we need the most are not gadgets, but humanity. Albert
Einstein feared that once technology surpasses human interaction, our world
will be a generation of idiots. I am a culprit in this as well. I have let
gadgets redefine my humanity, and I have killed most of my human interactions.
We have been made to think that without our phones, laptops or tablets we
cannot survive; But what of the people before us, before these new
technologies?
(s-media-cache-ak0 pinimg.com)
(dailymail.co.uk)
Depression to me is caused by the
lack of social interactions and sharing what we really have in our minds.
Nobody has the time to listen to what we are going through; therefore, all the
pain, jokes, and stories remain built up within us until they explode, always
with negative consequences.
Did you know that there are
standard eight candidates who have killed themselves because of the results of
their final national examination? Did you know that married couples are
divorcing or killing each other over petty things such as remote controls (I
feel that stabbing someone over a remote control is a serious issue, but a lame
reason)? Did you know that minors are becoming sexually active and abusing
alcohol and drugs? Did you know that Kenyans are becoming chronic gamblers so
that they can get a better life? Do you know that our economy keeps sinking in
debt because of our levels of corruption? Did you know that we are all looking
for shortcuts to a better life? Why? Depression.
I am a victim of depression. I
feel the need to make myself better each and every day. I constantly receive
pressures in life from family and friends. Most people do not know it, but I
have been suffering from depression since I was young. I am an actor and I have
learned to hide, putting on a face of someone who seems happy all the time. My
only way to release and relieve myself has been through laughing, writing and
listening to other people. I have also started exercising and eating healthier.
I have learned that the best way t deal with depression is to surround yourself
with good friends and family, and I am happy to say I have the best bunch of
friends I know and some supportive family members; People who encourage me to
always stay positive. My biggest friend has been my aunt. She has always been
like a second mother and my big sister. She has always stood by my side. She
has always helped me in my times of need, even if it meant borrowing from
someone to give me. She has always made me laugh. She has encouraged me so many
times.
(dutchamazingnewsblog.files.wordpress)
When I was in high school, I used
to be a big failure. I was always bottom ten for the first two years. I hated
the school and I always wrote letters of my displeasure to my parents. I felt
like they had thrown me in the deepest end of a manhole and were looking down
on me, laughing. It was an assumption; I did not know what they were going
through. However, I was in adolescent years, and I really needed a good support
system to help me deal with my ‘pressures’ in life. What made this worse was an
uncle, who I would stay with before traveling home, pointing out that I was a
failure. My aunt came all the way to that school and told me I was responsible
for my future. Whatever I did at school would determine where I would be in
life. She pointed to people in our family who had been given similar chances,
but could not complete school for one reason or the other. She told me that she
was looking up at me, to go beyond what she or my parents achieved. Those words
really gave me a boost and at the starting of my third year, I had changed my
perception of education and started working hard. I completed with a good enough
grades to go to university. I completed my undergraduate and immediately leaped into doing my masters, which I am still doing today. The uncle I talked of
earlier is still in shock, I graduated and I am still going on with school.
This was thanks to a lady who was looking out for me. I still talk to her and
whenever I do, no matter how angry or stressed I am, I would immediately light
up.
Depression is what is killing us
today. We want perfection, if we cannot get it, we resort to other ways. People
are dying of cancer, diabetes, and high blood pressure which are lifestyles
health issues. Suicides have also increased. Alcohol abuse has also increased
(It is not about second generation drinks). We are all trying to look for money
at the expense of our happiness, social interactions and health.
(quotesgram.com)
It is important to have a
confidant. It does not necessarily have to be a family member. It could be
someone who shares the same experience, but you encourage each other to be
stronger each day.
If we all took our time to stop,
rest a bit, reflect on our lives, talk to someone, then we would reduce the
negative vibes we have today. Terrorists need to be talked to, for them to
understand that people can work things out through talking. Children need to
talked to avoid them acting out and engaging in negative behaviors. Couples
need to talk to each other and create intimacy to avoid the amount of domestic
violence we keep hearing and reading in the news. Girls need to be told they
are beautiful and should love themselves for who they are. Boys should be
talked to because they also go through some troubling times. We all need to
talk to our God (Hebrew, Muslim, or Christian) or people we hold in high regard
to get guidance on the queries that trouble us.
A problem shared, is a problem
half solved
#FightDepression
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