By Leonard Kamugisha Akida,
KAMPALA
New clubs dedicated to students’ social, mental, and physical wellbeing are popping up in many schools and universities across the country, meeting a growing consumer desire for wellness-centered community and holistic health practices.
At Kyambogo University in Uganda, LEM Mental Health Association, a student’s led platform is significantly promoting a stigma free mental health discussion space to students through peer-led activities and education. The club also promotes awareness, provides an ongoing space for students to talk about mental illness and normalize conversation to break down the stigma revolving mental health in order to stop crises later.
Joseph Ssemwaya, the association president says the association employs different strategies to reach out to support students living with mental illnesses while encouraging others to recognize early signs of mental illnesses and encouraging them to get help.
“We are not only looking at mental health but also physical health because they all work together. One of our strategies this semester is aerobics and yoga training to ensure that students’ physical health is okay because when their physical health is okay, then their mental stance is also okay,” he said.
He noted the challenge of lack of professionalism in handling some psychological problems and other peer-to-peer based campaigns. He says the basic skills given to students mental wellness advocates is not enough to handle certain cases which may require someone with more experience and expertise.
Ssemwaya says to effectively help fellow students, they are referred to university Guidance and Counseling Unit and their mother company – LEM Mindfulness because the duo have more professional counselors. He says the association peer supporters are trained not to expose the victim’s information because it may result into crises.
“We take good care of that information and protect it well so that we don’t offend the person,” he added.
Speaking at All Schools and Universities mental health awareness conference at Kyambogo University on Tuesday (October 10), Faith Goko Njoki, a psychologist and Advocate for Persons With Disabilities from Healing Hearts Kenya said mental health is a hidden disability and appealed to the public to support victims of mental illnesses than waiting to contribute for their funerals.
On another hand, Daniel Lwassa, founder of Tukule Foundation said it’s time that the church take its place as a leader in mental health conversations.
“Evangelization is the best tool we can use to reach out to the young people because it doesn’t need medication as long as one receive the love of God,” he said.
Similarly, Victoria Sibiya, a journalist at Next Media asked students to break the stigma, promote mental health awareness among their peers and prioritize mental wellbeing of others. The journalist turned pastor however, warned against prioritizing education, money than seeking for God’s love.
Education, Money and God: @victoria_sibiya Next Media Journalist presenting All Schools and Universities #MentalHealthAwareness Conference at @kyambogou@LemMindfulness@LEM_KyambogoUni @Healingheartske @kubambatv pic.twitter.com/NTj7vqyvxb
— Parrots UG (@parrotsug) October 10, 2023
According to her, all the challenges that humans face today including mental problems were also faced by God’s begotten son – Jesus Christ. She called for God’s love to overcome life’s challenges.
In addition, Medard Atweta Favour, a teacher at Ebenezar School, one of the schools that attended the conference asked school managements to establish mental wellness clubs in schools to provide mental health support to learners.
