Lifestyle
We create a society where everyone is afraid to speak about mental health — Kiddwaya
Former BBNaija housemate, Terseer Kidd Waya, popularly known as Kiddwaya had a live session with social media influence and businessman, Obi Cubana, where they discussed mental health in Nigeria.
The reality TV star stated he wanted to get the perspective of another male in the showbiz industry, who Nigerians also look up to, and that is why he had Obi Cubana appear on his initially unplanned Instagram live session.
During their interaction, he asked Obi Cubana how often he gets questions like “How are you and how is your mental health”, and Obi Cubana explained “how are you” is common question, but some Nigerians could be offended if they are asked about their mental health.
This response led to Kiddwaya stating that Nigerians have created a society where mental health is not discussed enough despite the obvious struggles we notice.
“We create a society where everyone is afraid to speak about mental health but people are really really struggling” he said.
He also added, influencers can do a lot more to sensitize pppeople about the importance of mental health.
“I feel like we influencers and celebrities need to do more to shine the light on this very serious issue”
Kiddwaya also talked about the suicide rate in general, pointing out the fact that we cannot get accurate statistics on the suicide rate in Nigeria because we don’t have the right infrastructure to do so and nothing concrete is in place to help the younger generation.
“The rate of suicide is higher in men than women, In Nigeria we don’t even have the correct figures to even tell you what those numbers are because there’s no institution, there is no mental facility to help this younger generation, it is a problem”
Kiddwaya on Wednesday started a live Instagram stream, where he was joined by DJ Cuppy, and they discussed insecurities, mental health and peace of mind in that session.
He noted that it was unplanned but also hinted he might make sessions like this become more frequent, using podcasts.
