How Africa's Teachers Can Help With Learners' Mental Health
Even before the Covid-19 pandemic, one in five African teenagers had thought about suicide, according to a study released in 2020. This was the highest such prevalence in the world. A separate study from 2019 reported that 12 % - one in ten - Nigerian adolescents had attempted suicide. Adolescents often use school as a means of escape particularly when parents restrict their children's movement and social engagements. Add into the mix the stress of Covid-19 and we can see why adolescents would fall into depression and anxiety - and how this could push up the suicide rate. Global studies have shown a worrisome trend of increased anxiety among young people since the onset of nationwide lockdowns. While no such research for young people in Nigeria exists, evidence points to similar concerns as there is a general increase in anxiety across the nation. Research has shown that mental health services in school systems can create an environment of care that is good for the child's education and mental health. If teachers are trained on how to recognise, understand and act on signs of mental health issues among their learners, then we would go a long way in reducing such trauma in the youth, writes Maymunah Kadiri for allAfrica.
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Africa:
Use Teachers To Help Africa's Young People With Their Mental Health
allAfrica, 11 May 2021
Even before the pandemic, one in five African teenagers had thought about suicide, according to a study released last year. And this was the highest such prevalence in the world.… Read more »
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Namibia:
Suicides Rock Northern Regions
Namibian, 5 May 2021
The high suicide rate plaguing the country's northern regions has become a cause for concern, with Betsy Basson, a former chief social worker at the Ministry Health and Social… Read more »
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Cameroon:
Mental Health - U.S.-Based Cameroonian Therapist to Offer Free Treatment
Cameroon Tribune, 5 May 2021
Be The Exception Counseling Foundation through which the free treatment will be rendered will be launched in Cameroon in July to cater for the underprivileged and low-income… Read more »
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Gambia:
Drug Abuse Among Street Youth in Gambia
The Point, 4 May 2021
In the Gambia like all nations, drug abuse is seen as a social and health problem that has many serious implications for the physical, social, psychological and intellectual… Read more »
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South Africa:
How the Pandemic Is Hurting University Students' Mental Health
The Conversation Africa, 4 May 2021
Institutions of higher education worldwide are undergoing unprecedented change because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Universities and colleges have been forced to switch to online… Read more »
InFocus
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Nigeria has seen the second-highest number of Covid-19 cases in Africa, with more than 160,657 cases, 145,399 recoveries, and 2,013 deaths.
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