Please check on your friends before it is too late

Alongside anti-rape/sexual harassment, gender inequality, toxic patriarchy, discussions on mental health are the greatest wins on social media over the past 4–5 years.

Sadly, some still take mental health with levity, but the reality is, most people do not realise they have mental issues with levity.

A lot of people live with illnesses like post-traumatic stress disorder, depression — especially, bipolar disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder and attention deficit, hyperactivity disorder without realization.

August 15, 2018

On Wednesday, August 15, 2018, TwitterNG witnessed cries for help from two young Twitter users; @Mss_Nessa and @Queenfunto who declared blatant interests to ‘end it’.

For @Mss_Nessa; she posted the following tweets;

[No available link text]

@Queenfunto posted the following tweets;

[No available link text]

Concerned people immediately posted goodwill messages and online platform for helping mental health patients @MentallyAwareNG was called and they reached out.

[No available link text]

It also later confirmed that @Queenfunto was going well.

My story

For someone like me, I didn’t realize my tendency to constantly type angrily, lament the place of God, and constantly question the essence of life were signs of depression in 2017.

It was almost too late before I realized; I was sat on a pavement outside my office around 7pm sometimes in April 2017, sobbing and asking “Why?”

My saving grace was that I texted a friend, Kwame who kept calling me for a week later. In that moment, I realized I had been depressed for 6 months. I wouldn’t say I was close to ending it, but I was compelled to.

Though we have not spoken about it since he knew I was okay, I know Kwame still asks “How?”, because I looked fine and was acting fine till he got compelling evidence that something was wrong.

A Charge

Guys, please check on your friends. They are not fine because they look fine.

If you are thinking about ending it, please don’t. Speak to a friend. I promise you it gets better. Alternatively, you can call these numbers; 08062106493 or 08092106493