00:00 I'm so anxious today. I'm sure everybody has felt this way at one point in their lives.
00:07 Anxiety is a normal human experience. But what if it starts to make you unwell? You
00:15 cannot cope with work and it's interfering with your life. This now stops being normal
00:20 anxiety and it requires to be addressed.
00:25 I had a massive anxiety attack and ended up self-harming. That's the first time I self-harmed.
00:32 I'm a mental health advocate. I'm an artist. I'm a musician. But I'm passionate about mental
00:41 health advocacy.
00:43 This matatu is our safe space and it's the place where we're going to have a very candid
00:53 conversation. Anxiety is one of the most prevalent conditions. It's more prevalent than people
00:58 think. You know, somebody is hearing anxiety but they don't know what that feels like.
01:03 What does that feel like for you?
01:05 Right now I'm shaking a bit and my breathing is a bit hard. There's a time it gets really
01:09 bad like you can't even breathe. You panic even more. The more you feel like your body
01:16 is failing on you and your heart is beating so fast, you're sweating, you're kind of disoriented
01:23 and you're trying to, you feel like running but you can't even run. It's so intense.
01:30 And I like that you've been so vulnerable to tell us that even now you're feeling it.
01:35 So I'd like to encourage you to just breathe.
01:38 It's important to note that there are different types of anxiety disorders. The most common
01:42 is generalised anxiety whereby there is no specific trigger. But we also have phobias.
01:48 There are people who are scared of dogs. There are people who are scared of things like trains
01:55 or cars or driving.
01:56 We're going to read a comment from the DW Africa Facebook community. This is from Frank
02:03 Emelanjoku from Nigeria. He says, "Poverty and family issues is the cause of most of
02:11 it. We saw a spike of anxiety disorders, especially in men during the COVID pandemic when people
02:17 were losing their jobs and this was a big contributor to anxiety. But I would say that
02:24 it's not the cause of most of it. There are very many other contributors. Sometimes there
02:30 is trauma that can cause anxiety. Sometimes people go through a traumatic experience and
02:36 so they are multifactorial. And guess what? Genetic. A lot of anxiety is genetic. So there
02:42 are many, many causes of anxiety."
02:45 Something that many people with mental disorders have experienced is stigma. Is that something
02:52 that you've experienced in your journey or have you been lucky?
02:55 Actually what happens, they concentrate so much with their illness and they forget the
03:00 individual. So they end up having a negative perception towards the individual just because
03:05 they don't understand the illness.
03:07 So aside from stigma, what other challenges have you experienced as somebody living with
03:14 anxiety?
03:15 Okay, so one I could really point out is accessing mental health care. It's available but you
03:22 find that it's quite inaccessible because it's expensive. When I asked about therapy,
03:31 at that time I was told it was 4,000 per session. And at that time I was paying my rent in Buruburu
03:38 where I was studying, it was 6,000. I can imagine, should I use the 4,000? You see,
03:45 now you have to put it aside for some time.
03:49 So one thing you've mentioned that's really important for anybody who's dealing with anxiety
03:54 is coping mechanisms. What are some of your coping mechanisms?
03:58 Now for example, I'll start with something really simple. This fidget ring I have helps
04:03 me calm down. So it's something as simple as this. At times it's talking to a friend,
04:09 getting enough sleep, making sure you've eaten, hanging out with friends, which I rarely do
04:16 but I do when I can. Seeing a therapist, listening to music, dancing, swimming. Hobbies. When
04:27 it comes to my work, it's closely related. Actually it was born from when I was aware
04:33 of what I've been struggling with. So the Stronger Forum became a magazine. Then after
04:39 the magazine it became what it is right now, which is a community-based organisation. And
04:46 we do a lot of advocacy. Yes, you will feel helpless, like you're not doing much, but
04:51 it gives me a sense of purpose. I really just want to thank you for being so vulnerable,
04:58 for opening up and for speaking up. Because trust me, somebody somewhere is watching it
05:06 and relating it and feeling so empowered. If you are watching this and you feel like
05:12 you are relating and you feel like you need extra help, please speak up. There is no shame
05:18 in speaking up. Once again guys, thank you so much for watching and we would love to
05:23 hear from you. So please interact with us in the comments.
05:27 (upbeat music)
05:29 (upbeat music)
Comments