{"id":72487,"date":"2023-11-24T15:52:27","date_gmt":"2023-11-24T22:52:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/?p=72487"},"modified":"2023-11-24T15:59:47","modified_gmt":"2023-11-24T22:59:47","slug":"calgary-nigerians-tackle-mental-health-issues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/2023\/11\/24\/calgary-nigerians-tackle-mental-health-issues\/","title":{"rendered":"Calgary Nigerians tackle mental health issues"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A voice of many<\/strong>: Susan Ayomide poses to have her portrait picture taken in Calgary on Monday, Sept. 25, 2023. (Photo by Faithfulness Oyekanmi\/The Press)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A<\/span>s mental health becomes a larger topic of conversation in Canada, some communities are not as open to embracing those struggling with poor mental health.<\/p>\n

Mental health issues in the Nigerian community have become a sensitive, even taboo topic. However, some Nigerians who moved away from the country are becoming more aware and finding more ways to cope with their mental health struggles.<\/p>\n

\u201cBack home, we don\u2019t talk about that,\u201d said Olaniyi Muti, a Nigerian who moved to Calgary. \u201cAre you sad? Get a job.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to a 2022 World Health Organization <\/a>report, 20 per cent of Nigerians \u2014 about 40 million people \u2014 are struggling with prevalent mental health issues.<\/p>\n

\u201cNigeria is a toxic society that isn\u2019t ready for a change,” said Adebayo Abdulmajeed, who moved to Calgary in 2021. “After staying in Calgary for over two years, I feel heard. When I feel like my mental health is going down, I just take a deep breath, drink water, go for a walk, take a nap, or talk to a therapist.”<\/p>\n

In Nigeria, people often suffer silently for years with their mental health and things often have to become desperate for them to act.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost Nigerians don\u2019t know there is a thing called ‘mental health issues,'” said Susan Ayomide, a new member of the Nigerian Association. “They discard their feelings and never actually stop to take a break. We need people to know it is a normal thing; we are all human. We all need a break.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Nigerian Association advises Nigerians not to be ashamed but rather focus on finding help and support from the available resources. Self-care, personal work leaves, vacations, and treating yourself can all contribute to positive mental health.<\/p>\n

\u201cI urge people to incubate this mentality and drop the old one because we are growing,” said Ayomide. “It is the 2020s, not the 1700s.”<\/p>\n

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Susan Ayomide<\/strong> stands outside of her street to have her portrait picture taken in Calgary on Monday, Sept. 25, 2023. (Photo by Faithfulness Oyekanmi\/The Press)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As mental health becomes a huge topic in Canada, some societies are not as open to embracing those suffering from conditions such as depression, anxiety, and mental health issues.
\n [ READ MORE ]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":876,"featured_media":72499,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_ef_editorial_meta_text_assignment-slug":"It is okay to feel down FO","footnotes":""},"categories":[9,1109,1106,2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-72487","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-life","8":"category-mental-health","9":"category-physical-health-and-wellness","10":"category-campus-2"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72487","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/876"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72487"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72487\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":73133,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72487\/revisions\/73133"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72499"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72487"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}