Mental illness is nothing to be ashamed of; speak out if you’re unwell

I love podcasts.  My latest favourite is The Michelle Obama Podcast in which the former US First Lady speaks with the people closest to her about life, community, relationships and just about anything under the sun.

Her first guest was her husband Barack. They talked about community, growing up with very little and their move to public service. You should listen to that podcast; I felt like I was seated with the Obamas right in their living room, sharing a pot of green tea and copious amounts of honey.

If you think her first episode was fireworks, you should listen to the second episode in which she opens up to Washington Post columnist Michele Noris about suffering from ‘low-grade depression’. According to Michelle, her low-grade depression was as a result of the uncertainty of the quarantine, the racial tensions in the US and the general ‘hypocrisy’ of the Trump administration in its response to the pandemic.

For a woman who has lived her life in the public spotlight for over 10 years now, opening up about such a personal struggle is an unprecedented, brave and courageous decision.

Irregular sleep patterns 

Michelle talked about irregular sleep patterns and emotional highs and lows, all of which led to ‘a weight that I haven’t felt in my life… in a while’.

In essence, Michelle is many of us. She is all of us during this pandemic, if we are being honest. The focus has largely been the impact of the pandemic on our economies, public health systems and institutions. While these are important, what we are forgetting – and what is most crucial – is the impact of this pandemic on our mental health.

The irregular sleep patterns, the ‘emotional highs and lows’ are not unique to Michelle; millions of Kenyans are going through the same experience, some even worse, most of them quietly. People have lost businesses, jobs, relatives (either to the virus or other causes), among other untold losses. It is tough.

The message we need to pass to everyone experiencing stress, high blood pressure, sleepless nights, extreme emotional highs and lows, is that “it is okay not to be okay”. That there is no shame in seeking help when things are bad. That they are not alone in this period of darkness. We must make it clear that they are loved, accepted and what they are going through will pass.

We started this year on a high note; we had our resolutions, targets at work and personal goals. We need to tell our loved ones that it is fine if things did not go as planned, that nobody will penalise them if they failed to achieve these goals.

More importantly we must encourage them that even in such difficult times their health – their mental health especially – should be a priority for them and be there for them when they need to seek help.

Like I said before, if this pandemic teaches us anything, let it be that we are our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers.

Ms Chege is the Director, Innovation Centre, Aga Khan University