Winning the fight against depression

DW (English)

Talking about how depression feels can be scary. We meet a young Nigerian who tells us about her symptoms of depression and how she mastered them: With the help of friends and family and by focusing on things she enjoys.

Transcript

00:00 (upbeat music)

00:02 Have you ever been in a place that's crowded,

00:04 surrounded by people such as this,

00:06 but at the same time, you still feel alone,

00:09 sad, or misunderstood?

00:11 I want to tell you that you're not alone,

00:13 and I'm on my way to meet a friend

00:16 who has been in this situation,

00:17 and I want you to join me on this journey

00:20 so that we can find out how things really feel

00:22 from her perspective.

00:24 Let's go.

00:25 (upbeat music)

00:29 (upbeat music)

00:31 Hey.

00:43 - Hey.

00:44 - What's up?

00:45 - I'm good.

00:46 - So guys, today we're going to be talking about depression

00:48 in this, you know, very public,

00:50 but at the same time, very private space.

00:52 We had to bring it down here

00:53 so that we can have this unfiltered conversations,

00:56 you know, conversations that need to be had.

00:58 I know it's been a, you know, difficult time for you,

01:02 but how did you know that you had depression?

01:06 - All right, I'll go back to when I was in school.

01:10 I'm a perfectionist.

01:11 I'm someone that, yeah, I like everything in order,

01:15 and it was like my life was going out of order.

01:17 I had two missing scripts and one carry over.

01:22 So I think I was broken, and it really affected me.

01:26 When I was experiencing that, I didn't know

01:28 what was happening to me.

01:29 It was like I was in a dark place,

01:31 and I didn't know where the door was

01:33 to get out of the room.

01:34 That's how it felt.

01:36 I couldn't sleep.

01:37 I dreaded going to school.

01:39 I dreaded waking up, and I was always unhappy,

01:41 coupled with the fact that back at home, things were not,

01:44 my family was struggling financially,

01:46 and there were a lot of money issues.

01:49 So it was weighing heavy on me.

01:52 - So the thing about depression is it can look different

01:54 to different people, from loss of pleasure,

01:56 loss of interest in activities, lack of self-worth.

02:00 But at the same time, experts have claimed

02:02 that high levels of chronic stress can trigger depression.

02:07 But then again, in so many people,

02:09 traumatic events such as violence, abuse,

02:12 and loss can trigger depression.

02:14 So reach out.

02:17 How did other people see you?

02:20 How did they react towards you?

02:24 - I had this friend.

02:25 We're close.

02:26 She knew what I was going to do.

02:27 I'll call her name, I'll say,

02:28 just hug me and tell me everything's gonna be okay.

02:31 So we have this culture of dying in silence.

02:33 You know, something's eating us up,

02:35 but because we don't want to appear weak,

02:37 we decide not to talk about it.

02:38 - How did you get help in all of this?

02:41 - By this time, I had come across a book by Josmea

02:47 that talked about depression.

02:49 So now I'm a makeup artist,

02:50 and I'm also a mental health anesthesist.

02:54 I didn't mention earlier,

02:55 I actually took a course that was very therapeutic for me,

02:58 a mental health course.

03:00 And I can say that it gives me the opportunity

03:04 to help people, which I find very fulfilling.

03:07 - Nkeruka and I are going to, you know,

03:08 take some questions from the DW community.

03:11 And Mostafa Inua from Bauchi, Nigeria asks,

03:16 is there a category of persons,

03:19 particularly in terms of age,

03:21 who are at risk of depression?

03:24 So Mostafa, if you're watching this,

03:27 there are a couple of risk factors.

03:29 There's family, there's genetics, you know,

03:32 sometimes depression could run in families.

03:35 Sometimes it could be environmental factors.

03:37 I think someone even said a lot of the depression

03:40 that we're having in this country.

03:41 - Has to do with poverty, no money.

03:43 - And I can understand that.

03:45 Sometimes your personality could even come into,

03:49 especially people who have, you know,

03:52 have low self-esteem.

03:53 - Yeah, teenage people.

03:54 - You know, sometimes they get on social media,

03:57 especially social media now,

03:58 and you see things happening for other people.

04:01 They don't seem to be happening for you.

04:03 - Exactly.

04:04 - You know, I think this is the point where, you know,

04:07 you could remind us again on how you made it out.

04:11 - I think I owe it to my relationship with God.

04:14 Secondly, I read a lot.

04:16 And I think reading transports you

04:19 from your immediate world to another world.

04:22 So let's say you're reading a book on hope.

04:24 You begin to feel hopeful.

04:25 I journaled a lot too.

04:27 Journaling helps me now track my triggers,

04:30 know why I'm feeling like this at this point.

04:33 I was more vocal.

04:34 I talked about it.

04:35 - I like that.

04:36 - Yeah, so when I have issues,

04:37 I don't think it's wrong to talk about it with someone.

04:41 I'm not afraid to appear weak.

04:44 I get easily vulnerable.

04:46 - I am so happy for you.

04:48 - Thank you.

04:49 (laughing)

04:51 (upbeat music)

04:54 - So guys, if you're watching this,

05:04 I want you to know that you're not alone

05:05 in the battle against depression.

05:07 But the good news is there are solutions.

05:10 Find a community, find someone you can trust to talk to.

05:13 And I hope this encourages you

05:14 to share your mental health journey with us or with anyone,

05:17 but just speak up about it.

05:19 And I'm going to see another friend.

05:22 Hope you join me.

05:23 I'll see you then.

05:24 (upbeat music)

05:26 (upbeat music)

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