The teacher shouts at her because she is late again. She loathes her because she always has an excuse.
She is unkempt, she cannot concentrate in class and is not a performing student.
To her fellow students, she is dumb, has lots of issues and cannot be understood.
She thinks everyone hates her and is less concerned about her, the constant reminder of, ‘Get a hold of yourself’ and ‘It’s all in your head’ pains her.
She was on Tegretol 800mg and Nexito 10mg last night. She is epileptic, the Tegretol slows down the seizures and the Nexito is her mood stabilizer, to keep her stable from her weird emotional pangs.
It is only her who understands how it feels to take these drugs; the drowsiness, the sleeplessness and the tire yet she has to be like the rest. She has to excel like the rest and handle the same challenges like her peers.
Mental illness is a pain, a thorn in the flesh. Many have chosen to let it fall to deaf ears but a group of young Kenyans with the name Mind My Mind (#M3Movement) have decided to break the silence.
These youthful chaps were fed up with the suicide rates among their counterparts and decided create awareness on mental health. Their mission is to end the stigma surrounding mental illnesses in Kenya.
#M3 has three quarters of its members affected directly and indirectly by mental health. They are also a self-help group who talk about issues that affect them.
They organize for meetups and use their talents and skills to create awareness, the latest being a state of the art photo-shoot they did at Nairobi Arboretum. You can find the photos here – http://mindmymind.co.ke/photography-project
They are publishing an anthology of 100 uplifting poems and creating a chat-bot that will entertain depressed persons and educate people on mental health are among their projects.
Are you a young person with a backstory on mental health and with a passion and drive to create mental health awareness can join them by emailing them at info@mindmymind.co.ke.
You can find out more about them by visiting their website
Or their social pages at
Facebook – https://facebook.com/M3MovementKE
Twitter – https://twitter.com/M3MovementKE
Instagram – https://instagram.com/M3MovementKE
Pinterest – https://pinterest.com/M3MovementKE
Let’s work to end the stigma surrounding mental illnesses in Kenya. Let help stop the suicide rates in Kenya.