It’s okay to not be okay! Looking out on Your Mental Health During Maandamano

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There are different types of wounds. Physical wounds can be seen, but some wounds cannot be touched or seen. These are emotional and psychological wounds. Kenya, as a country, has had its trauma and wounds, some of them are from the colonial era and some from bad leadership.

Similar to unattended wounds, the bottled emotions following the cumulative progressive injustices with conflicts that were unresolved have implications on our mental wellbeing. From the current demonstrations, we are learning that the decisions we make, impact future generations.

Taking into account of the mental well-being of Kenyans during these difficult moments; we recommend the following as we continue to explore alternatives for conflict solutions and problem solving for a prosperous and peaceful Kenya;

1.     Kenyans need to seek mental health support.

Lives have been lost, people are mourning and grieving their lost family members, some are angry and afraid, parents are worried, the government is defensive, paranoid, and helpless. These emotions should be resolved and processed.

Therapist and mental health institutions should provide/volunteer needed support. Those who have been trained on psychological first aid should also support.

Some of the institutions that support mental health and could of value at this time include;

a.      1190- a free counselling holtline run by LVCT Health

b.     Raffi App- an application run by Shamiri Health, they offer few free mental health services for free

c.      Chiromo Hospital Group- 0800 220 000

d.     Amani counselling center

e.      Mathari

f.      Befrienders Kenya – 0722 178 177

g.     Kenya Red Cross – 1199

h.     Emergency Medicine Kenya Foundation – 0800 723 253

i.      Niskize- 0900620800

2. Facing and resolving tough problems requires some levels of vulnerability.

Every person including the government and relevant institutions including the church should acknowledge their role in contributing to the current crisis situations; constructive dialogues can be done.

3. Adopting healthy copping strategies

Young are prone to engaging in substance use, and over engagement in social media, unprotected sexual conducts as copping strategies; these are unhealthy and would hurt their mental and physical health. Peer support, physical exercises, breathing exercises and others will go a long way in facilitating healthy copping.

In conclusion to these, as #CommunityVoices, we stand on shoulders with the Gen Z for leading in fighting for integrity and our rights. We salute those we have lost. We acknowledge that new challenges and opportunities are coming, for Kenya to achieve its goals for prosperity and peace; then it must take concrete and bold actions to address its challenges, mental health is one of the neglected challenging of our time.