for the 1st time inside his and witnesses on wishing to provide exclusive insights into the workings of the messiah. in 45 minutes on d. w. ah, what people have to say to us, ah, that's why we listen to their stories. reporter every weekend on d. w. hi there. this is the 77 percent the show made for you african youth. i am mike lety. welcome with. so one day you are feeling happy, but next your feeling doubt or do you have friends who are struggling to show up at

social events, depression, anxiety, as well as other mental health issues are under rise in africa. so i thought to be, we'll talk about that coming up. we'll hear stories of young people who are trying to welcome mental health problems. will go to the stress of zombie up to find out why people dealing with mental health problems. don't get a healthy meat. and i'll introduce you to a solder for ken who uses up the conferences for my sick passes. i to begin to this program, i'll take you to wanda. one in 6 people in the centralized condition is depressed. in 1994, the country went through a conflict in 10 aside. that letter the death of so many order wonder has moved on from that dark time on the surface at least many still suffer with post traumatic

stress disorder or p t s t. that is why form our beauty queen amanda calissa, set up who mecca an organization that reminds people to take it easy and breathe. hulu. it felt like awaits just like the water underneath there, and it'll wait over you. you feel physically exhausted, you feel scared. and that to me describes a mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, you feel like you're in the deep end and you're always wondering, will i ever get out labor able to breathe again. my name's amanda ac elisa, i'm currently the president of an end geo. it's called who mikka, which means breeze. the reason i came in with the idea of who mikko was because i

started to see my own friends dealing the things i dealt with and not having the, the sort of motivation to go seek help. and that's because of lack of education, that's because it was heavily stigmatized. i was there, are you good? so my name is amanda calissa and i am the president of whom make our organization after i graduated from high school. right. i started to struggle with my mental health. it's hard to decline over time and it went to a place where i would suffer getting out of bed. i would suffer going to brush my teeth. ah. and i didn't have a reason why i couldn't explain it, but i'm lucky because i hide the space to seek help. but there's so many people who

don't have that right there. so it was suffering and they don't even they don't have the space. they don't have the money, they don't have the time. their parents are not listening. right. and so that's what who mckay's about. so we're going to start with the 1st activity. look at yourself in that mirror. and remember a time when you were young, when you were in high school and how that felt like so he said, okay, want to create a space where public school students can be able to access mental health care for free. we also noticed that a lot of therapists didn't have interpersonal skills. we're going to give university students the ability to come in and have internships, you know, have interpersonal skills. part of what's helping me heal is also helping other people. ah

ah listen, the thing about mental health is that it is important also for your overall physical well being. and if you don't take healthy mental health, it could increase your risk of ada fiscal problems like diabetes and heart disease . and i'd be the 1st 2 admit that the cove at 19 pandemic was a very stressful time. for many people. it is no surprise that mental health problems increased, because naturally, many were worried about the future of their jobs and the people that they love. and that is where pamela sil, wanna found herself in june 2020. but to day the south african is getting help. let's check out how she monies to turn the situation around. for pamela, so ana, it's a day like any other the community activist and her mother,

a dish out food to people and doug were willing to neighborhood near cape town, helping others is her motivation. give us any she because we feel like we give back to the community place or suggest dangerous because of the resources that we keep on going because there's no other way. pamela gets things done. but behind a strong facade, the 37 year old has struggled. in mid 2020, she experienced a mental health breakdown. pamela clearly remembers the day i knew to leak up and everything is false. different. my mind felt like it was scrambled. and every time i wanted to wake up or no, it was just so difficult. um, eventually i did wake up, but my hands with numb and in every time i needed to think my mind just went blank and blank and as low key. i needed to see a doctor or a doctor,

diagnosed pamela with depression, but she's far from alone. more than a quarter of south africans suffer from probable depression. in fact, health officials have said the country is mired in a deep mental health crisis. when a traumatized society, you know, people complain that politicians to blame so much on a politics, but if you think about it, the structural barriers put in place for her. parted or still very much a reality. and the trauma continues. the severe burden of, of stresses in our country for pamela employment, struggles, childhood trauma, and battling to provide for her 4 children, took its toll, but depression has another dark side. not everyone recognizes it as an illness. even pamela's mother had difficulties excepting her diagnosis. i think it's the, it's the lack of knowledge it would be like which craft, if people are like, they're the big rel reached even now people this, what they believe,

even while it may be tempting to dismiss traditional belief systems doing so, it's mostly counter productive, says professor c baker, the main thing they is to not dismiss those belief systems, it's actually essential to listen. and then generally when people feel listen to, they're more likely to engage with an alternative perspective. once victory level, you've actually paid attention to me through her activist network. pamela met, therapist, debbie silver. ready after receiving counseling, pamela took a course which has helped her assist others. a more away we help can be found, you know, and if sometimes it help is not found was in my community than i can organize with transport for the prison. to actually go get help since her diagnosis over 2 years ago. pamela has come a long way. ready deficient doesn't actually necessarily lose you. i don't know

whose concent depiction any she never has heavy again. but i think because of the people that out i've been exposed to and the people that i can talk to, i am not in the dark hole, but i mean a journey. and i now know that my healing chimney doesn't have an expiry date. the thing about depression is that it drives in silence and looking at the stories of pamela and amanda, they found yeah, healing through helping other people. and that is certainly a point to not zambia passed a mental health law in 2019, but its implementation still remains patching. and this reese street beat the 77 percent for 2 molars. she asked him soccer to find out why despite the law mental health patients don't really get helped in need

and the idea depression, bipolar disorder, mental health issues like these are seen as taboo topics in many african societies with limited access to medical health go services. young africans to struggling with their mental health are left to their own devices. the d. w. 77 percent is in zambia, precisely lusaka to look at this silent epidemic. so go silent, appear me. of course dr. to people at the heart of its advocacy. and i'm going to start off with here, mr. benjamin who has 10 years experience, of course, are talking about mental health. was the for just give us an overview of the mental health situation here in zambia. we have most of our services, highly centralized in osaka. ah, grammar number mom is trish ones that are also providing ah, like telephone counseling just to make sure that access to mental health services is made available, accessible and affordable, even to those one or 2 of them. a 2nd. let me just come to an amateur. my here tell

us what has been your focus in the past and people have stuck to these misconceptions about mental health. that mental illness is a curse or, you know it's demon position. so my focus has been to debunk those myths and make people realize that mental illness is something that can attack anyone. and we have duncan here who yourself has experienced this live and talk to us about your experience with mental health. how was that face of your life? like i became still side by the age of 10. and at the age of 16, i studied attempting suicide. i add to my add to my group, dick somewhere at the age of 6, which i, i developed souls on my leaps. you know, sometimes when i, when, if i go to school at home, my friends would laugh at me that because power in blood could even come out of my leaps. so i, i received a rejection from there and coming from a broken home as well. so i felt i had low self esteem,

so i sat down and i thought, what's there in the future endowed with just there were things where because ah, we struggled so much in the family when mom and dad are separated. ah, we went through so much fine, i showed the so the else nor any form of hope for me. what about the family, your images surround in soft um i shot over the signs of so site to my family, the people that i was leaving with. but nobody could be able to recognize my mental state. i or so could talk much about death and write more so much about die, not be the only solution there on your way out. so i showed all those signs, sometimes out talk to may be spiritual people, but they told me it's pray about it. so i felt less understood and i felt the only way out is just to end my life. i mean, you talked about the am seeking for spiritual help as well. duncan,

let me just come to our doctor francisco here. tell us how is the situation of medical access when it comes to treatment services? mental health is a health presentation like any other health presentation. thus, if an individual feels like they've got any mental health issue or condition or problem, they should go to the nearest mental health center, but is mental health really embedded in your primary health care system. this is what the question is. i think this is something that we're constantly investing in . and i believe this is not something that is unique to them. yeah. it's actually a global issue, but i, you know, excuse in the, you know, like the isn't here because, well, i had to move one circuit, a major area that was thought it is with primary healthcare is awareness. and since deposition i'll come back to that. i'll come back to what exactly you are doing, moving forward, but for now establish that there is a problem. this is talk about that briefly at least introduce yourself. yeah, i'm here bro. much in the amiss coaching. nice. what we want to send to the would

be and what we want to achieve as africa, as xander is looked, we want men to her to be if her taste do be prioritized so right now it is not a priority, so much us, right? yeah, but let me just come back to dr. francisco, he, i'll come back to you that he said it is not a priority for this country. mental health i will beg to differ if you compare it maybe to other conditions like h i v t b which are well funded and we have many partners finding that we so it'll make an a field of medicine like mental health, which doesn't have many partners look like it's been neglected to hell come back to that later because i am still trying to understand if it's that it's really been prioritized and i'm going to come to you duncan here. would you say it has really been prioritized i struggled with depression and anxiety for 12 years. i was a young person in school. i never by then. i don't know, but then i never saw anything about mental health on tv. if doctor you're seeing

that it's been given that attention in but then why is it like that? because i feel if i had people that came to my school to talk about mental health out of different, it's not what i'm struggling with. and out of reached out and seek for hill. okay. as an active is he also have a platform, right. how do you center ah, the communication around mental health. okay, so on my radio podcast i, i usually include professionals and also people with lived experience. and also apart from that we go to schools and communities to also talk about mental health. please allow me to am, contribute to the question that you had asked dr. lawyer on with a dental, it is a priority. i don't agree. there's a lot of stigma you'll find that i go in there with a mental health problem and the doctor is actually going to taunt me and laugh at me and there's also no protection. the police also, you know, make fun of people with mental health issues. and would you report that to nobody takes that seriously. so definitely slippery through the 2019 mental health act has

been passed. right. which means it's now into law. so i mean it also has to cater for protection. non discrimination of people are struggling with mental health. but is this a progressive attempt on the side of the government looking at where you've come from the or the last that you hot from my perspective? no. because some of the things that are in the mental health act i things such as an a mental patient should not be discriminated. and they shouldn't be caught at derogatory terms. when you go to the police station and report something, the moment you say you are a mental pleasant, you get really cute. the police don't take those thing seriously if like these laws have been passed, but they're not being implemented. i am for lack of a better word. i'm disappointed for to hear that yet devaluing the mental health act to that level. we've been uploaded for that mental health act. and that was a huge step for mental health cuz it protects it promotes but what,

what was that advocating? what she's saying is, is it really gaining flu shot in terms of the implementation aspect of it because of that on that and the law is still meaningless. it is, dear, this mentality of st. government will sort something else along. it's a wrong attitude and me, us government is the primary duty mer, hear you. but we are helping with foster settings policy. we need to understand that we can compare mental health to other areas in health right now. it will be a mis norma on the government side. what are you doing towards the issue of mental health now going forward that the law of training that's coming up for men's health personnel. we're doing a little supervisory and mentor re, a mentoring visits when it comes to mental health across the country. then in terms of since those attend awareness top on our priority as well, we're looking into that then of course, one of the important aspect that i'd like to highlight, we are calling for partners. thank you so much. i think i'm, we have heard it to aid what has just been establishes that mental health is real. mental health struggles are real and definitely exist in zambia,

oswell. i know that it can be too much to do so much, especially when it's supposed to be the work of the government. but as people what we can do as well is to be more empathetic to one another. sure, love, sure, kindness at spread mass where you can because you never know what people are going through. this has been the 77 percent of life from them b. and to thank you so much for watching and thank you to far to as well as your wonderful panel for that conversation. if you will want to watch a longer version of this debate head on to our youtube channel. and you can also find the address right here. now, lack of funding for mental health problems is not only as ambien issue. the what health organization says that on average, governments in africa allocate only $0.50 to mental health. and that is way below that $2.00 per person that is recommended. fortunately,

as we've had in that debate, there are support groups out there, so seek them out. recognizing that there's a problem is half the battle one. so how can i tell if someone close to me is dealing with mental health problems? let's go to cost for some tips. hello and welcome back. i'm kaz. today we will be discussing the what, why and how of mental health. mental health is just as important as physical health and it's important to take care of both. what is mental health? mental health refers to a person's overall psychological well be. it includes the way you think, feel and act in response to different situations. mental health problems appear to be increasing and important in africa. yet there is still a great stigma surrounding mental health challenges. many african communities view these challenges and disturbances as caused by external factors where people known

to be suffering are either b witched or have evil influences. but this is not true. problems with mental health already my health problems like a broken arm or an invisible illness like diabetes. there are many different mental health conditions and some of the most common include anxiety disorders, depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia eating disorders and addiction. symptoms of these conditions can range from mild to severe and they greatly impact a person stating that. so how would you know when to reach out for help? if you notice, persistent feelings of sadness, hopelessness, or worthlessness, loss of interest in activities that were once enjoyable, difficulty sleeping or sleeping too much changes an appetite and wait. thoughts of self harm or suicide if you or someone you know, is struggling with mental health. it's important to reach out for help. remember, taking care of your mental health is a continuous journey and seeking health is

a sign of strength, not weakness. thank you for tuning and we hope this information has been helpful and informative. until next time. please take care of yourself and thanks cost for those tips on this show, we have talked a lot about anxiety and depression, but remember that mental health disorders come across a wide range. so if you or your friend or a family member, has any mental health problems seek professional help immediately, i cannot stress that enough. sometimes poor mental health comes from past trauma, like witness and the death of a loved one, all experience in domestic abuse. and in the society where people are encouraged to suck it up, but unresolved pain, humpers, jol well being sought african artists set the mental money to do with his demos through his art. let's find out how i've been making life since i was 5 years

old. it's been a big part of my life. i don't think i would know who i am without it. so, art is me and i of art is like medicine for me. when i am said from it's all, ha, ha, african ginger. i'm a contemporary artist, painter, designer, illustrator, multi disciplinary artist, well known for trading of almost 3rd pan african new expressionist art style. combining painting and st. are the ones down i grew up in a household where my grand was domestically abused and i witnessed that a lot as a kid because i was around her all the time. so for me, that was a very traumatic experience and growing up as a guy understanding that it's a, it's a, it's a vicious cycle of uncheck mental health leading to

a violent approach that says the cycle. and i think knowing is half the battle. and i want it to be completely aware of, you know, what genovese violence is and what it's really doing what, what causes it, you know, she passed away because of that. i buried it, you know, and that's what made me such an angry teenager. and that's what made me so like rebellious, like breaking stuff in his angry at the world, you know, and the old i got, the more realize that i'm feeling upset because on my own mental health plus my own childhood traumas. what may me vocalize or be aware of my traumas and pain was making art peeling is painful. it's not the easiest thing. and the only way to be better is to sit with those dark thoughts that you don't want to have and process them. and by doing that, you actually become better and better as time progresses. so yeah,

the only thing that made me become conscious of that was making i was, i was my work so dark, let me do a thorough analysis of myself and then digging deep and being like, oh, this was the reason this is so dark is because this was this is what influenced this approach. okay, cool. why did that influences approach while that happened to me when i was 6? okay, cool. makes sense. me . so we're about the, it's a kalashnikov gallery to check out some of my work with the ems. it's up in the gallery manager. i think he good, he's good to be back. you know, these are more extensions on my solo show that i did in february this year called weiss, a blue brown boy. that collection was clinic and she the birth of this conversation of body motion, vulnerability, masculinity wanting to speak about societal norms and societal conversations

against men in men's mental health and prove and show that they always for men to deal with emotions in a natural and healthy way as opposed to substance abuse and violence, we can express ourselves to conversation and vulnerability. so these are extension of my almost vulnerable sol for the most intimate parts of myself being displayed, exhibited in being open a bias struggles. it's not a weakness in its strength and i'm glad today we had you opportunity to have this conversation. i hope that i money to inspire you to open up if you have any challenges. and if someone close to you does open up, dont where to call them or call them names instead encourage them to seek professional help. and oh, don't forget to call and check up on your friends regularly. that's our show for

this week. i leave you in the company of johnny drill on his song. how are you my friend? enjoy? and as always, thanks for watching. how do you know this to me? ever since that you were dealing with lenovo getting the machine with me? you know, my, me be our friend indeed. ah, ah ah

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change your mind just to click away find out best documentary on you to see the world already subscribed no t d w documentary. so i was just rescuing deduct from a farm this one this body go with i sounded like this and i couldn't just leave it there and i should meet. 2 2 ah, this is such a great burden. it was so dirty that cleaning it, turn the entire bathroom into a matt. this is the water birds 1st as well. but one of the most beautiful moments i've ever experienced a trip with a donkey series about our complex relationship with animals. well,

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