Foundation Brings Awareness To Psychological Health
The Orunsii Wellcare Foundation is a not-for-profit organisation which focuses itself on Psychological/mental health awareness, destigmatisation and enlightenment programmes. One of these programmes, ‘MHADE in Lagos’, has created avenues for conversation centered around mental health issues in Nigeria.
The foundations name, “Orunsii”, is a Yoruba word meaning ‘open heaven’ and represents the foundation’s mission which is to promote Psychological and mental health awareness as well as the management through advocacy education, training and support with the appointment of the Lagos first lady, Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu, as the grand patron.
According to Dr. Olumide Sojinrin, medical director/CEO, General Hospital, Mushin and project coordinator, Orunsii Wellcare Foundation, “We found out that mental health was a silent thing and people were ashamed to come out and say they have psychological issues. The second thing was that a lot of people were not aware that there is a thing called mental health problems. The third thing was that people attached a stigma to people who claim to have mental health issues.”
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He explained that many Lagosians have said that they could not invite somebody who has mental health issues to their houses and also find it hard to cope with people who have mental health issues, “Questions were asked in the community and a lot said they could not marry people who have mental health issues. We realised that it is a treatable thing so why should people have a wrong impression about it?”
Regarding the issue of bullying in schools, Dr. Sojinrin said that the Foundation did some grassroots awareness campaigns amongst the students to deepen the conversation and curb the issues. He said, “If we teach them that bullying is wrong, it’s good to be friends with your colleagues; people may go into depression or be sad for certain reasons and they should not use that to stigmatize them. They should look for ways to encourage and lift their spirit.”
Mrs. Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu, Lagos State First Lady, who is also the grand patron of the foundation, urged that Lagosians take care of their mental health. She stressed that a good mental health is a major determinant of every individual’s total wellbeing. According to her, there is no health without mental health; henceforth every individual must take their mental health very seriously. She also asked people of the State to give mental healthcare a priority in their scale of preference, noting that it is the way to go.
Maymunah Kadiri, the keynote speaker who was represented by Suzanne Oreoluwa Adebayo examined the various levels of bullying as well as its adverse effects on mental wellbeing, especially among the youth in a presentation titled, ‘Bullying and Self-Awareness’.
