Mental Health First Aiders

He, Kimani, whose name i had come to learn as we kept conversing, shared that he had a coping mechanism. One that helped him deal with stress and anxiety. He’d drink a beer, which he referred to as “one for the road”. I inquired about how he gets to control that, considering some of these coping mechanisms end up becoming an addiction. One that could easily ruin your whole life and switch from being a coping mechanism, to being a problem.
Our conversation took a different turn. I asked if he and his friends talk about “kitu inakusumbua akili ”. He said they do. But they filter out the “shameful” parts. I was curious to know what was shameful. To explain, he gave me the hypothetical situation of him being battered by his wife. That wasn’t something he’d dare tell his friends, were it to happen. He wouldn’t seem ‘man enough’ to them. The sad thing is, so many men go through such and never tell anyone because of the shame they may be subjected to after people learn about it. It made me think of the many men who die in silence, just because they were told to ‘man up’ or ‘swallow their tears’. A man shouldn’t cry’ they say. Kimani laughed when I said that it was okay for men to cry. “How?” He asked.
So many people ask that question. I started feeling like it was new phrase I had learnt and was pushing myself to believe. Deep down I have to admit that it would be a bit weird to see my father cry every single time he felt like crying. What would the rest of us do? Sit there and watch him? But then again, why did he have tears if he wasn’t supposed to cry?
I thought about these things. In the end he couldn’t agree that men should cry if they felt like it. It felt foreign and weird. Our conversation began to digress as we were interrupted by different customers. The pots he was selling looked good and I thought of buying some, before he asked me to pick my favorite. I did. He put a flower inside and told me to make sure I water it once a week. Then added, “A girl like you deserves a beautiful flower. Keep that one and keep having such conversations with people. They help. Go to the villages. That’s where such conversations are needed most.”
This felt so good. It was humbling that a conversation with a stranger who became my friend could end up making me feel the need to keep promoting mental health awareness in little ways. I’m still watering the flower and promoting mental health awareness in simple different ways.
Written by Qui Qarre
writer at Mindful Well-Being

What do you think is the best way to solve conflicts among family members?

It's possible and normal for family members to collide and have conflicts. Mental health first aiders become self-aware after the training. Self-awareness helps in conflict resolution and prevention. Conflict resolution is among the skills that create peace and harmony. This is a skill that a mental health first aider has that enables them to be aware of conflicts in their spaces/families and intervene where possible. We should have mental health champions in every space and family. They will help resolve conflicts where they can.

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The first Mental Health Champions' session took place on Wednesday last week. The journey towards 5000 mental health champions in 2021 has began.

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A mental health champion is a person equiped with the skills to provide mental health first aid within their environments. Mindful Wellbeing Project aspires to 5000 train mental health champions in Kenya & the first class is on the 31st March 2021

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COHORT 3- MHC REGISTRATION- CLASSES BEGIN ON THE 31ST MARCH 2021 Welcome to COHORT 3- of the Mental Health Champions. This is an initiative to raise awareness and help reduce the stigma surrounding mental illness by having a Mental Health Champion in every home , institution and organization in order to promote overall mental wellness.

There are less than 500 psychologists & less than 100 psychiatrists to serve a population of over 50million Kenyans. Mindful Wellbeing project aspires to bridge the expertise resource gap by training 5,000 mental health champions in 2021 within Kenya. This Mental Health Champions will be the first point of contact for individuals struggling will mental health related issues.