Depression Among Africans And Solution

The World Health Organisation estimates that 280 million people globally are living with depressive disorders. For African women – who are affected at approximately 1.5 times the rate of men. Depression is a leading cause of disability. Yet, due to the lack of investment in mental health services, approximately 85% of people in low-income countries receive no treatment. The World Bank considers it “the greatest thief of humans.

What Depression Looks Like

Depression is not a simple feeling of sadness, which diminishes after a few days. Rather, it is a disease that disables more people in Africa. It can endure for weeks, months or years. Symptoms include extreme fatigue, inability to concentrate or make decisions, feelings of guilt or anxiety, and a general loss of interest in life.

Furthermore, because Depression impairs the ability to focus and concentrate, its sufferers do not respond to health initiatives or livelihoods trainings, rendering these programmes less effective.

This impaired ability to function in day-to-day life creates profound hardship in Uganda and Zambia, where life is community-centered and reliant on each person fulfilling her role, and where depression carries great stigma. When a woman is unable to perform her basic social responsibilities, she can become a target of criticism and social exclusion. All of this exacerbates her depressive symptoms, creating a dangerous feedback loop.

What We Are Doing

StrongMinds is the only organisation working to rapidly scale a solution to the depression epidemic in Africa. This they are achieving by training lay community workers to deliver mental health services through group therapy sessions. Friends, families, communities, religions and organisations should be able to work together to provide depression treatment to the most underserved populations in sub-Saharan Africa.