DMHP Kohima holds awareness program for students
KOHIMA, November 23 (MExN): District Mental Health Programme (DMHP), Kohima organized an awareness programme on school mental health at the Capital College, Kohima on November 22.
Vezuhu Keyho, principal of Capital College presented the welcome address where he stated that enhancing our knowledge about mental health is very crucial in this generation particularly young people.
During the session, Veronica Nriame, Psychiatric Social Worker highlighted on Mental Health and Mental Illness, common mental health issues experiences by adolescents/young people.
Young adults are at a particularly vulnerable time in their development, which might explain why 1 out of every 5 is affected by mental illness, she informed.
Depression, anxiety, and addiction disorders are common mental health problems encountered by young people. Nriame also discussed about significance of life skills resilience and how it enables the individuals to deal with demands and challenges of everyday life.
She stressed that it is very crucial for adolescents to be mentally healthy to enjoy optimum level of health. Ketousenuo Phewhuo, Clinical Psychologist, spoke on the symptoms and management of depression and anxiety disorders.
She called for offering emotional support, understanding, patience and encouragement when someone is depressed.
Talking with trusted friends or family members is a great place to start as mental illnesses like depression and anxiety disorders are often innate, Phewhuo said.
She also mentioned that a depressed adolescent is prone to many problems including: failure in academic, abusing drugs, increased risk of suicide etc.
Anivolu Vese, Community Nurse chaired the programme. The DMHP team stated the rationale of conducting awareness session on Mental Health is to broaden knowledge about the subject, detect and provide early interventions to the individuals who are at risk or suffering from any mental health problems.
