LAN Health Initiative, an NGO, has tasked Nigerians on the need to seek professional help before thinking of drug abuse and suicide.
Angela Brown, Co-Founder, LHI, gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria during a mental health and drug abuse awareness campaign at the National Youth Service Corps orientation camp in Abuja.
She regretted that depression, drug abuse and suicide had become epidemic in Nigeria.
Brown noted that to control this epidemic, government must first acknowledge the problem and commence measures to tackle it before it gets out of control.
She said depression, also known as major depressive disorder, was one of the most common mental disorders in the country.
According to her, depression affects different people in different ways, but most of them experience some combination of the symptoms.
She identified some of the symptoms as anger, irritability, restlessness, difficulty concentrating, prolonged sadness or feeling of emptiness among others.
Brown stressed: “Depression is not a sign of weakness, neither is it something one can not snap out, rather it is an illness that requires professional treatment and with the right care, people can feel better.”
The co-founder advised people with such challenges to reach out for help before it is too late.
”It’s Ok to feel in a certain way, it’s ok to talk about it and it’s ok to seek help,” she said.
Dr. Nkechi Mbazue, Co-founder, LHI, said while anyone could develop problems from using drugs, vulnerability to substance addiction differed from person to person.
Mbazue said taking drug causes a rush of the hormone dopamine in the brain, which triggers feeling of pleasure.
According to her, the brain will remember these feelings and want them repeatedly.
“When one becomes addicted, the substance takes on the same significance as other survival behaviours such as eating and drinking,” she said.
She added that changes in the brain interfered with ability to think clearly, exercise good, judgment, control behaviour and feel normal without drugs.
Loveth Gosioha, a Corps member, said government must tackle societal challenges such as unemployment to help curb depression, which leads to suicide in most cases.
Agu Chibuzo, another Corps member, lamented the high use of cannabis among youths in Nigeria as an escape to societal challenges.
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