By Michelle Kirwa, Head girl 2020
A wise woman named Tiffany Madison, once said that the problem with having problems is that ‘someone’ always has it worse. Ever heard the popular saying “health is wealth”? This gives a large meaning to our life, as health is considered the most valuable and precious for every individual. Good health means not only the absence of disease in the body but a complete physical, mental, social as well as spiritual well-being of an individual.
Mental health includes emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel, and act. It also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others, and make choices.
Mental health is important at every stage of life, from childhood and adolescence through adulthood. Mental health in Kenya has nowadays been given priority to both teens and grown adults.
What are these factors that contribute to mental health problems in students and more so the teens? They include life experiences, such as trauma or abuse and family history of mental health problems.
There are many ways in which we can know if someone is suffering from unstable mental health. Some of these factors are pulling away from people and usual activities, having low or no energy, feeling numb or like nothing matters to you, having unexplained aches and pains and feeling helpless or hopeless. Other red alerts to be watchful of include smoking, drinking, or using drugs more than usual, feeling unusually confused, forgetful, on edge, angry, upset, worried, or scared, yelling or fighting with family and friends or experiencing severe mood swings that cause problems in relationships
If you are having persistent thoughts and memories you can’t get out of your head or hearing voices or believing things that are not true or even thinking of harming yourself or others then you need to seek immediate medical help because you might be gradually gravitating to depression. Some other indicators to be watchful of include the inability to perform daily tasks like getting to school or church.
So how can a student maintain positive mental health? You need to get professional help if necessary. You also need to connect with your friends and family members as you stay positive. To stay positive as a student, then you need to get physically active in addition to helping others. Getting enough sleep is also vital for maintaining positive mental health.
Many citizens now are succumbing due to negative mental health. We are called to be our brother’s keepers and try listening to their problems. Many have no one to talk to hence thinking of suicide as the only option. Therefore, when you see someone dull, disoriented or lacking interest in the things that they love doing, DO NOT IGNORE THEM, SPEAK TO THEM. BE THE BRIDGE THAT WILL KEEP THEM FROM SUCCUMBING TO NEGATIVE MENTAL HEALTH. ACT NOW.
