 Good morning and thank you for keeping us company again. This is why in the morning Y254 TV we are talking about mental wellness this morning. We are fighting COVID-19 and so many people have been affected in one way or the other. It could be the one or it could be your family member. How do you help them manuva this COVID-19 pandemic healthy, wise and of course even help supporting them in one way or the other. I'm speaking to Anastasia Kihaga. She's a psychologist. She'll help us or to put things into perspective of how you can tell someone is suffering from maybe depression or stress or how can you help them. Send us your comments or questions to all our social media platforms Y254 channel on Facebook and Instagram at Y254 on Twitter. At Morani Hilewi is my hand. Good morning and welcome to the program. My name is Dereva Hilewi. Good morning. Happy to have you here. I want to begin by asking you how is COVID-19 taking on you. I must say that COVID-19 is at all order. I think for everyone we are equally affected differently. One it's because it's something that was not expected. I never expected that it could have been like this. Unfortunately that is where it has taken us and therefore I am equally affected. Having been working in the station, having been going for a talk show and going for trainings it has affected me. But now we are reserving to going to virtual online cancering and many other things. I mean we now need to embrace what is there like online virtual counseling and virtual training but we need to restrict her and to reschedule ourselves. So that is where I am at upon the immunification. Of course I am sure there are people who are benefitting especially the platforms that we are using the Zoom, the Google. They are benefitting from this and who could change. Of course we are now living at the times where we are living by the words of the CIS Motaika we are living abnormally to the normal condition. If we treat it normally it will treat us abnormally. And you'll never know when it will strike. Now speaking of striking we have for a long time seen mad people in the streets collecting litas, other people who have lost their minds and we see how our nakili poor. So we only think majority of the people if not all think mental wellness comes as a result of maybe an abuse or something else of the drugs but what is mental health per se? Yes I would say mental health it is the state of mind number one and the state of mind it's how we think act and talk. It depends on the mind. The mind is in service like a house and it affects our thinking, it affects how we talk and it affects how we act. So what we think then after thinking then you talk about it and then you act it. It starts small whereby you need to understand if you're able to relate with other people psychologically you're okay, mentally you're okay, socially you're okay especially mental health affects our psychological well-being, it affects our mental well-being it also affects our social well-being because even my mind is not okay if I have a problem with my mind I'm not able to relate well with people so it will affect my social life the social interactions and relationship it will also affect my emotional well-being you know human beings are emotional we are emotional that is why we need we feel and everybody feels good sometimes sometimes you feel sad sometimes you have a feeling of you know you're overwhelmed especially at this time people are overwhelmed including yourself they're those moments that doesn't mean that you are mentally ill but you're just emotionally unwind and therefore mental health and awareness we need to create awareness whereby we need to understand when we are not okay and I want to say at this point it is okay not to be okay we are human because we have been laid and catered in a way that genders we should not share our issues like men it should be very strong for others olive and women you're a single mother or you're the one like the breadwinner in that family there are those people who are like the the ones the parents of the family and everybody wants you to be okay and sometimes you get overwhelmed and you're not okay you're not psychologically okay mentally you're not I mean you emotionally you're not okay you feel overwhelmed and at that point that is a point whereby you need to seek for help because the more you advance it's the more you keep on keeping it and keeping it and you wait for things to happen sooner or later you'll find yourself in the street brings me to the question when can I tell I have fallen to depression because I will wake up in the morning do my stuff do everything that I do on a daily basis but then you will find at some point I am broken how can one tell I have a problem you serve you need to tell you have a problem if right now it's okay to get angry it's okay to to like now sometimes feel you are out you don't want to talk once in a while but if this one becomes persistent that you don't want to talk to people you are you are withdrawn you feel the sense of isolation you feel like you don't want to share your issues with people there those moments whereby if it's anger it's a prolonged anger if it's over being I mean if it's being overwhelmed by issues it gets prolonged sometimes you get yourself shouting you shout and then it is a prolonged thing it's a persistent thing you look at yourself like a fallen week a month and another month and you still behaving the same you still angry you still emotionally down that is a point whereby that you're going down you need to be aware when you're not okay like when you're going down emotionally you need to look at yourself like that sometimes okay I know that like this time because maybe lack of money right lack of okay there's so many things that are happening in people's mind and by the way mental health affect adults affect teenagers and affect children differently so when you find yourself projecting your anger persistently when you find yourself always emotionally down you know something very small triggers your anger something very small triggers your pain something very small the people who get angry the people who cry the people react differently to emotions if you find yourself being persistent on those or sometimes getting itchy on issues you you're not able to solve issues because you emotionally destabilize you're on turbulence all the time you need to check your mental wellness because at that moment it is whereby you find yourself you're going down you know emotionally you're going down psychologically you're going down socially you lose people and you may find that you either you're not able to resolve or to solve your own issues and you're not even ready to seek for help why because you have resolved to withdraw you have resolved to isolation you have resolved to like it is my problem when you take it as you as yourself you find that now you start going down and that is a time in it that's a lead drug i'm sensing that could be a problem closely closely to the introverts because you say ah this is me i don't i don't like sharing but now this is the person who has who has come to that point they don't want to share they have with john pro people and they think now this is the new me maybe have discovered myself and they do not know that's a problem now that we have mentioned could be the symptoms we could call it the symptoms of the depression where someone has withdrawn from people and they think this is the new normal now for someone who is living with such a person how can i tell that this person has a problem and they need help as you have said personality equally comes into play the extrovert may behave overly you know you see people behaving out you know those issues you find themselves it's like they are throwing tantrums they are all over right but the introverts they may choose to resolve if you find yourself in such a mana whereby some of the system symptoms of of depression it's one of it is withdraw withdraw is quite it's quite often then you get isolated then you get something we call sleepless nights insomnia you could also be down in terms of your your your edges if you're a married couple you your sexual edges may go down on the other hand you don't even want to work you don't want to be with people you're like on your own and that is a time you'll find those signs start coming out or you're always angry you know that anger that is not getting it's not reserving or that pain you feel sometimes you get even pains all over somatic pains we call it hapa hapa sadrum whereby you get somatic pains you don't know where it's paining you may also get headaches that is a sign that things are not okay especially those persistent the persistent one you used to sleep okay but now you cannot sleep we call it insomnia you need to check your cycles and that way you're able to notice am i okay and if i'm not okay that is a point we need to create awareness people are not okay but they're not ready to share you die with your problems you you you you you you are not working you used to work and now the the new normal it's it's easier said than done adapting to new normal it's not easy because you need to pay house rent you need to take care of your children you need to take care of your bills nobody's going to samahia you because you haven't paid your bill so the bills are going to come so who is going to foot them remember that is a point you need to ask yourself what do i need to do who do i need to talk to and most of the time we it may happen that people may go to resolve they may get comfort from other things like alcohol they may practice alcohol other people go to drug and substance abuse you know when i take one when i'm high on something um i try to forget things or when i enter into sexual addiction many things all the enter into pornography there are people when they are stressed like this time they in the house is freedom a lot of stress you know that prolonged stress it may end up taking you to depression because if you have the prolonged stress for some time and then it's not getting resolved you have issues that have not been you know the pending issues you you you you not dealing with an issue today i have something to deal with tomorrow i have something to deal with i haven't dealt with the first one the second one has come and the third one those those pile up the pile up it may break you down so the best thing is communicate your issue early enough and then solve a problem as it comes and fortunately that is not the way it happens according to the new normal yeah actually the new normal we are living at a time where we are we are speaking of the haters fake friends i will tell you my problems and then you broadcast me so how now do i start sharing who do i share with and especially like such a time we are speaking of kovid-19 people have been laid off lp cuts i can't afford a counselor is is there a way is there a mechanism i can solve my problems within my confines without having to tell anyone because if i tell someone they will broadcast me number one the best place to solve your issues it's from a family setup and that is where we need the family support the psychosocial support we started from the family at family level if you're living with family you're either an adult you're a man or a woman you're a wife to someone or a husband to someone please share with your husband that is when we need a dialogue this time we need a lot of communication because our social we are socially distant so even if i want to walk and go talk to somebody maybe it's not possible let's make use of the family setup if you're a child you're a teenager please talk to your mom about your concern if you're stressed if something's not working on well not these are the times that parents are shouting because the the the children are eating a lot of food and the food is not adding itself you know you find those moments whereby the food is not multiplying but the eaters are multiplying every day the stomach is widening every day so those are the moments you need to tell your mom or your dad please mom you're shouting to me quite smash you need to understand that i'm equally not getting along with it i'm i'm not feeling well when you when you when you shout at me but when you don't talk about it it will it will again escalate and after it escalate the the teenager of the child is going to get stressed so at family level let's solve our issues at family level that is why we need to have a allowed table with the family number two if you can let out to somebody maybe for those who are living single maybe you're single and you're living alone you need to we have phone calls get your friends the we have circles of friends we have the people who are in the inner circle and the outer circle we need to get to make use of the inner circles whereby i have somebody that i can meet do i have someone everybody must be having someone and you need to know your friends at this time especially when you're in need that is when you know your friends is there somebody that i there is phone call away and i call them if it means video calling or zooming whatever let's make use of the the online platforms that can communicate our needs like i've found in the facebook whereby people communicate i have seen somebody i am personal lighting please if in case i am not there anymore just know that i have already you know they create those those signs the led flags that somebody wants to commit suicide right and that is one of the one of the symptom that somebody is depressed if you hear them talking of committing suicide or they are looking for an exit plan before you get there please look for somebody either your parents if you were able all your friend if you're able please look for and now trade to vent out your anger because sometimes people are stressed because i have not gotten anybody i have not gotten anybody to vent out my anger right and it gets i inhibit it and the more i inhibit it the more i am building a time bomb and sooner or later it's going to explode you can imagine what we have found out of COVID-19 people have have killed themselves people have killed their loved one you remember that woman who killed their four children that is that is something that was working out it's it's because she never got anybody a support system we need to develop support system it's good for somebody to litter can i get somebody to let out too can i talk to somebody at any time you know those are the as you have said we have gotten to a point whereby people are betraying us and because we have been betrayed in the past you fear true and that that is because of the trust issues they are quite much at this time because if i can't trust you with a small bit let's be a custodian of our own freds let's be let's be a custodian of our own mates let's be a custodian of our freds can i become a bank that is what in my psychological field i've always asked myself can i become a bank that somebody can invest in me without giving up in number oh that is a psychologist okay i should be a be a bank somebody is investing their pain in me of course i have a way of venting it out we have supervision so can somebody invest in me their pain their their their anger and i will not again open that i will not be an opening again to go and start splitting the same pain to others so can i have a pain whereby that somebody can communicate with me and i'm able to keep the secret not us but of course we don't keep the secret when somebody wants to commit suicide you have to share with the support system but then i need to be that somebody can i can i listen to you hilali and then after listening to you how will i react always poured to your issues so you need to look for such a person and i'm sure at this time of covid-19 this is a time i'm not sure that you know the people who are saying there is covid-19 and there is corona so i don't know whichever you whichever you want so at this time you need to ask yourself who are my circles who are in my circles there are circles of five the closer one and sometimes you don't even have at least you should have one even me i have one thread that i share with you know we talk and we are we are very close and after talking i feel i will leave why because that person will not go share about me they will not talk about that my family they will not and everybody has weakness everybody has problems yes but the way out yes now we we have a problem you want to help but we have a problem with this person who needs help i i don't know whether they want to someone to listen or they need to be told we have had a problem where someone wants to vent out then you are they giving the advices yet they didn't want that advice they just wanted someone to listen now how do i define the terms of what kind of help do this person want is it listening or is it listening and advising i think it's the high time we understand about mental mental health you need to understand it is a pain that is not seen with physical eyes you're getting you know when i'm hurting when my my heart is hurting like my heart was hurting some few a few last month it was very hurting i had that problem and when the heart is hurting you know i get the attention of everyone i get the attention of my husband and my children you know this they can see i'm hanging something but the mental awareness it's the mind and you can imagine the same pain i'm feeling on my head that is the same pain the person who is mentally unwell is feeling if they tell you they have a headache please don't ignore if they tell you they feel they haven't have had sleep last night please listen to them if they tell you that they feel like killing themselves please don't ignore don't ignore those small small sign and remember it may not be physical it's not seen the mental wellness it's not seen it's not feasible i can smile i have a very broad smile if you can realize i can smile to people they are outside and have a good smile but that is outside maybe inside i am hurting inside i am i am crying from inside my my i am i am feeling the pain inside but it's not seen outside and that is the point whereby we need to create that awareness that mental wellness it is whereby you need to understand that somebody is hurting from inside it is easier to have a physical beating whereby you do the violent people they will beat you physically but there are people who will beat you emotionally these words there are people who will attack you emotionally they attack your ego they attack your they attack your physique and they attack even what you're doing and somebody anakwambia kijabo hila limpa kuna sema what i mean you are yes you kill somebody with your words and at this point as you're saying you need to mind your words what words do you speak to somebody and as you've said there are people who will come to you they just want a hearing ear and one of the skills that we have in counseling it's an active listening sometimes just i have valid i have talked to somebody on the phone and they will talk to me two hours without responding just listening to them listening to them especially this you say dot people it is good to hear from the point of view and from the point of view of the other person the the person who is talking to you in counseling we don't advise we explore issues you explore the possible outcome you explore the possible solution because if somebody tells me they want to they don't have money for house rent i don't have a solution so we explore the possible outcome because i don't have land to pay for them but of course i will help that person to see the issue in a different way right yes you see it's it's a mindset issue this one is the mental heads it's about the mind you restructure the mind of somebody if somebody tells it that they want to commit suicide you just do the restructuring of the mind whereby you tell them let's explore option because when somebody wants to commit suicide that is an exit plan they have already said i have explored other options and the only exit plan it is to have myself this is the only escape route i want to die and used to you to use the first time the less painful but remember that person is a mental torture so what do you need to address you need to address their minds you need to address their mind the problem is their thoughts life has a problem because they have thought allowed themselves and they have controlled that the only way that i want to exit my exit plan is dying so you you check on their thought line by listening to them you can only get the thought trying of a person you can only somebody told me that they fear me another guy told me that he fears me because he he he he's feeling that i'm able to read his mind and i told him i don't sometimes i don't have to be to be leading somebody's mind but by the way somebody is talking you need to listen to somebody's story line not mine it's not me who has an issue so i need to listen to somebody's story line after listening to the story line please add the dots and sometimes the people who are mentally sick the story line doesn't add up you'll get there in congruency there is that breakup somebody will tell you these what is happening after sometimes okay you tell them okay i can hear and then after you tell them like that that the story changes when there is that in congruence of the story you need to now stop and tell them you said we use something we call refreshing you you put back the question to them don't use your own words use the same words and that's a mechanic and then on the other hand there's another technique if you're in a in an agreement in if you're in a country to somebody sit down with them the way we are seated with you look at them in their eyes that's also a communication and by the way silence it's the best answer sometimes you can give to somebody it is an answer on itself you see the way you keep quiet and you don't even answer to issues because sometimes answering it can either be reactive as opposed to responding to an issue so sometimes just keep quiet we are we are living in times where by people are stressed because of loss you can imagine people have lost their loved one and you expect them to be okay no they are not okay one because the mourning period is very short after somebody dies these days you they are buried after within a very short time and you're not giving people an opportunity to mourn you are again building another problem will get anxiety disorders will get and it can even be psychotic whereby people will even become it even become post traumatic disorder because people are not given an opportunity to mourn mental health has been stigmatized whereby it's like when somebody tells you that I am not okay it's like I'm seeking for an attention I'm here to let us know that when somebody tells you that they are not okay please listen to them it is they are not seeking for attention and when somebody is crying if somebody comes to you please be assured that you lean on because sometimes we we cut the conversation by telling somebody please stop goja kwanza please stop crying talk to me let them cry because even cry speaks and sometimes there are people I told you there are people who vent out through crying there are people who don't shout and throw trantrams because they are they they are able to co-deserve their emotional tabulances but there are people who will cry there are people who will shout in anger I I know you've seen during a time of our loss somebody has lost a loved one some will shout and some will cry give people an opportunity you're there you as a friend or somebody like a professional like me and they are to listen and pick the points even in the cry even in the cry pick the the conversation pick the what are they communicating in their cry we have a lot of ignorance in our country on the street I must say that we have a lot of ignorance we don't we are not able to listen to the emotional awareness of people we cannot be able you need to listen to the field feeling of people yeah actually know that you sing of the feeling I'm looking at these persons will be there a couple the the married one has lost this job or maybe something has happened in their family maybe from the other side of the other person and then you're there you're trying to listen to them and you're like support my my my partner maybe they have lost their job maybe something has happened to them because not even COVID-19 COVID-19 so how else can you support even someone who is your partner you it is someone you expect to know so much but then you understand they have changed they have changed I know do I tell this is a mental problem it's just a behavior that has come one of the ways that you need to address that you need to understand that when there is behavior change a pattern you know a certain pattern has all of us changed a certain pattern in your house has all over changed the only way you can be able to help somebody it is by listening to them number one listening to them number two communicate your issues together that is when we need to have a dialogue maybe you're going to ask me at the point of crisis how do you communicate at the point whereby there are crisis how do you communicate that point whereby there is no there is no communication where there there are conflicts and the conflict is escalating have you ever realized that the more you make noise the more you socially distance even not even talk about the social distance the one for motahi all the ones for who talk about the social distances the more like now if you start you see the way we are talking with you we are we are doing a conversation but the moment we have a conflict we start shouting to one another and the more you shout to one another the more the hearts get distanced you know you socially distanced that is when you hear somebody has withdrawn in terms of it's nil by mouth uh or you get a code code treatment whereby things are not working well if it's a couple like the way you've asked the bedroom becomes an issue if it's in the if it's in the a teenager a teens a teen and a mother or a teen and a father they no longer talk it's a it's it's nil by mouth why because of that social distances the social distance when you feel that you cannot communicate with your spouse and it is okay to communicate about a loss of a job who cannot lose a job we have all lost jobs you communicate about it and if you cannot communicate to your view because of the conflict please look for a third party somebody you can trust or a professional yes somebody that you can trust or a professional that is why we need to create awareness of the mental health a lot no we are speaking of kovit 19 is families or or individuals have been affected in one way or the other and especially the the the recoveries from the kovit 19 these are persons or someone who was suspected to have kovit 19 there is stigmatization now how do i help myself uh through the waves of the stigma from friends from maybe where i live my neighbors or even at work how do i come out clearly and the stance from even when people see me and brand me kovit 19 the stigma associated with kovit 19 it's quite much in the society one because people are not aware that i should separate the kovit 19 from the individual you heal only but i should not associate you with the sickness i you should not associate somebody with the sickness like you call somebody mad that's wrong the madness it's an it's an element you know that that that the psychotic being psychotical having a disorder a mood disorder or an anxiety disorder that is a that is an element you treat somebody you know you pick individual this this is me but i need to be separated for my issues but unfortunately we we we intertwine we are not able to separate the two so we thread in the person with the issue and we need to know that it's either in the kosociety somebody is affected or infected and we are all affected why i have i'm communicating with you i don't know where i can pick this the disease anybody can be infected anybody can be affected and therefore treat people with a lot of treat people with a lot of love and also have that unconditional positive regard let's regard people as people we are human and if somebody die of kovit 19 or somebody is affected with kovit 19 pre street them as a human being kovit 19 does not separate you from being who you are let's reserve the dignity of people and therefore as a society let's not stigma let's not associate kovit 19 with the stigma because we are causing more stress we are causing more pain to people you're causing more harm than normal and that is where you're fighting people are feeling to go to the hospital to be tested because of the stigma you can imagine if i get cold today if i start coughing on the streets somebody will tell me eh you know it's like i am treating like a social outcast even at the family level please remind yourself that these are sickness like any other the way we have treated the people with terminal illness the cancer the diabetes the hypertension even a common cold let's treat that disease as a disease and let's not intertwine it to the human being let's remember that this is a human being the way you talk remember the time i remember i remind us again the way you talk to someone and it can also happen to me right so i have always asked myself would i wish to be treated the way i treat the other person might the other person and remember you can also be affected or infected so we need to work as a team i think this is a best time to use the numbakumi initiative whereby let's support each other as a team as opposed to working as a person let's work as a team i remember that when i take care of my neighbor i take care of myself by doing the wearing the mask keeping the social distance and sanitization so when i take care of myself and my children and my family remember i'm taking care of you and your family so that is the best way as opposed to the stigma or stigmatizing stigmatizing people let's observe the precautions i remember when i observe the precautions when i wear a mask it is not about me alone you know there is that selfishness of whereby hey my family are protected you know but remember we are human being we'll still get in touch with other people one in one way on another okay there are those people who are indoors they are not moving out but in one way on another you'll get in touch with other people so mind about your neighbor that is what i can say to reduce stigma let's mind about my neighbor and when i take care of myself i've taken care of my neighbor you can imagine if we can do that and an initiative of numbakumi and also let's have our own support system let's check on one another tell somebody that i'm here for you i know i don't know if it's very easy but sometimes i just tell somebody i don't have anything to say but just know that you can reach out to me okay one one you have to you don't have to post like a sponsor you know we send the wrong message when we say i am here for you yes i feel free then someone will come telling you all their problems and then i'm like i realize guy i couldn't handle when you say that you're here for them it doesn't communicate that you're there to support them right and always say i will as far as i can don't commit yourself it's an uncommit all just tell somebody please get get to me i will support you as far as i can right don't forget that statement because you cannot act like somebody is as bad you cannot act as somebody's wife but you can act as a friend as far as the boundaries remember you you also need to maintain your boundaries you need to keep your boundaries and say i can only be able to assist you by maybe giving you my support in terms of resending here in terms of having a call away just resending to you but i may not be able to pay for you lent because people by the way you're saying people extend help yeah even to the bedroom and it brings another issue so do as far as you can you're not jesus you're not the savior of this world if it's only jesus who died for us yeah you cannot save the world again yes we are limited so maintain those limitations even with the i think the social distance is working on well because we are able to retain their limits the limits yes yeah now as as as we conclude there there has been a i think the president directed that a report me should be prepared for the mental wellness and it has been a debate even in the parliament do you think at this point mental wellness awareness has been created enough and do you think we having the support maybe even from the government and the stakeholders i am i must say even from this platform that we need to invest as a government we need to invest in mental health because most of the issues can be solved from a very minimal level that will not even hurt the the country economically if we are able like now in the time of covid-19 people are inflicted with fear and there are people who are getting more stressed or more the the the the element is escalating because of the fear of covid-19 there are people who are killing themselves you know you can imagine the aftermath we need to take care of the aftermath of covid-19 and understand that if you are able to take care of mental health and wellness will will not escalate problems like now we have teens pregnancy we need to invest in our school program even at now as at now that people are outside they are in the houses our children are in the houses as the government put in structures to take care of mental health and wellness we need to understand that already there is a stigma that is associated with our academic system because the children are not in school whatever is happening outside there they are getting into drugs they're getting into pornography they're getting into teens pregnancies and there are people who have been laid off from the praise of work they are getting into depression and sooner or later we'll have so many people who are committing suicide or they are homicide or they will kill others and therefore as a government my take is we need to create more awareness about kofi i mean about mental wealth mental health because it is very key if you're able to solve the mind if you're able to resolve the the problem from the mind the setup of mind over somebody and invest in the mind set of somebody we are able to solve many problems even the workplace the if you're productive even like now you come here when you're stressed you know you you're counterproductive you know be able to be productive as usual even in the hospitals our nurses our healthcare providers if they're not mentally well remember we are also feeling them and they are also they are at the face of the risk and therefore they are stressed but remember that that person is stressed at night and they are going to wake up again go for another shift they're following money but who takes care of them their mental wellness who whom do they vent out to do they have a deep briefing do they have somebody who listen to them because sometimes you know mental health can be seen i've said it's not seen yeah true and you can you can imagine somebody who is depressed and they are the ones taking care of the sick person somebody who has mistakes yes we we make mess there is no mess than good that is being happening in our nation you find the people in the media even the media personalities they are at the front line taking for us the news but after that after seeing that they are equally at risk of getting there the disease they are equally at risk of getting infected but after that after taking the news you know the social icon the social media platform the people in the front line even the politicians themselves even the the members of parliament themselves everybody is at risk but after that who takes care of having somebody to debrief from the problem that they have do they have somebody who sit with them down and tell them oh we are sorry and just know that we are here for you we know what you're doing at the prison working right can imagine nobody is bothering so we need to invest more in the mental health i still feel in our country kenya we have still not yet given mental health a priority a priority i support that we need to give mental health a priority we need to give it a priority from a family level from an institution level in our schools especially our schools when i look at what is happening in our nation especially the next generation now they are into drugs they are out of school some of them they have already they have already given up on their studies because if somebody was informed for somebody was in class eight unless they get somebody to encourage them that they will pick up from one day where they stopped we are going to have issues many dropouts many dropouts and people have already said it's okay even this academic we can do away with it you know people have already done away with it so there are no jobs yes there are no jobs they have decided to do away with it so let's talk to the let the government put things in structures we need counselors in schools because after the opening okay we'll take the the measures the precautions we'll take the measures and put things in order we'll put the sanitizers we'll put the mask and we'll put the social distance is even as we prepare to get back to nomasi which is the new normal but remember we have not taken care of the stigma associated with COVID-19 we have not taken care of the stresses we have not taken care of the post trauma remember this this something COVID-19 is an event that was not expected by anyone anybody and therefore people are traumatized everybody is traumatized it's only that some of us have shock absorbers but people are traumatized so there are people who are going to suffer post post traumatic stress disorders how will we cover that there are people who have lost their loved one they are grieving from their their social distance their social distance from others and they are grieving those are the same people that will take to the praise of work right so you can imagine so i encourage the corporate and encourage the government and everybody to embrace mental health and i repeat this again even as you wind up mental health is not it's not a nilment it's not a nilness that is physically fizible but it's a nilness that affects and pains somebody but in the mind all right now finally we have seen the problem that comes around with along with the mental wellness how do i keep myself saying how do i protect myself how do i keep myself from falling into depression maybe stress how do i handle like you mentioned how do i handle that problem as it comes yes that i may not even fall into depression or maybe being at a point where now i am lost one you need to be aware aware of to what extent can i stress myself you need to have that self awareness self awareness whereby you need to understand at what point do i feel stressed at what point do i get ugly what are my triggers they are people because of their past experiences because of their family past experiences because of their childhood experiences they get triggers they get triggers and once they get the triggers it escalates the pain so you need to understand what are my triggers when am i stretched overstretched even at the price of work when am i overstretched that i cannot take in anymore when when is a point whereby what is it it that is affecting me that i'm getting sleepless nights what is it that is affecting me that i was not drinking and now i've started another behavior of alcoholism or dragon substance abuse what is it that i was not doing you need to check the behavior change and if the behavior change it's going on the opposite direction that is a point you need to sit down with yourself and do a personal reflection if you find that you cannot be able to support yourself please seek professional help that is why we have professional help and we have the professionals to take care of you even at the price of work yes now so we need to advocate for that that even you people after you do the after you air the show you need to do someone to check on us yes all right now this is your camera your final recommendations and what you'd want the youth to know especially now that they are free home they're staying at home they have nothing to do the teenagers you we have seen how they are exploring things and we don't want to get to a situation that we cannot handle later yes my i am anastasia kehwaga i'm a cancerous ecologist and i'm resting the youth i want to talk to you and tell you that we love you and we care for you and coven 19 has affected everyone and everyone is equally stressed or distressed and therefore i want to remind us young people please do not believe your dream remember you still have a vision and if at one point you felt like things are at at a stop and you felt like your life has come to a stop i want to remind you that academic progress will still be on you never it's it's only a delay but the education sector is going to pick up from where you left there is nothing that is going to stop and therefore please take care of yourself remember whatever you do whatever you eat whatever you drink and whatever you you do you need to mind about your thoughts you need to mind about your actions and you need to mind about your behavior because whatever you're going to do now it is going to affect you today and your future so we are seeing you at the future you're a blight people and we expect you to be the one who is going to take after us so please remember don't give up and do not test you're not a test tube please don't be curious to do a testing don't test with your neighbor if you're a girl don't test with another girl i will remind us the young people remember that we are social being i understand but mind the peer inference don't get inference i am not saying that you should not have friends but i'm saying mind the peer inference and always start let your nobi know and your sbs we we need you to be assertive let your nobi know and let your sbs and don't lose focus please even as you stay in your houses remind yourself that you need to take on the books because you still pick up from where you left please take on the books and also be morally upright if you can join a social crab in the facebook or somewhere and also remember you need to build up your faith you need to build up your faith to be morally upright so it is good to check on those things i thank you because you you you're better tomorrow than today so take care thank you all right thank you so much and thank you for coming and sharing your your experience in this particular field and helping our young people out there i believe they have learned something and what we've gathered from here it's not um what you say it's how you say it you can kill someone or you can build someone and of course the bank you've mentioned can you be a bank that uh don't share the pin to see Sambazana if someone uh shares with you please keep it to yourself they needed help they didn't need someone else if they wanted someone to know their story they could have published it they could have broadcast it but now they told you because they trusted you thank you so much that makes the end of this segment i thank you for keeping keeping us company she has been my guest Anastasia Kahaga she is a psychologist i'll be seeing you again in a few minutes with politics now many misdereva hilewi good morning thank you