Men's Mental Health

Preserving Your Mental Health As An Influencer

Preserving Your Mental Health as an Influencer Influencers spend a lot of time on their devices, planning, creating, executing and promoting. There is also “chasing the bag”. It sounds exhausting but this is the high and fast paced world of brand or digital influencers. How does an influencer unwind? How do they take care of their mental health?. On this episode of NO JUDGEMENT, Sheifunmi and his guest co-hosts - Ibrahim Salawu (Unilag Olodo) and Owen Je delve into the subject of mental health and how it impacts an influencer. The positive aspect of this intersection is that many GenZ and Millennial influencers are championing the mental health cause and have the basic understanding of mental health. However, a huge part of mental wellness is making crucial self love decisions. There is no peace without boundaries. Your mental health journey does not only have to do with overcoming depression, managing stress, meditation and what not, it involves self awareness, identity, inner dialog, purpose actualisation and taking conscious actions to evolve and better yourself and your wellbeing. Guests:  Ibrahim Salawu (UnilagOlodo) Brand Influencer / Digital Strategist Owen Je Music Enthusiast

Dealing With Childhood Trauma

It comes as no surprise that childhood trauma can impact one’s mental health but what is surprising is the staggering amount of people that have been affected by childhood trauma. Millennials are adopting the culture of healing generational trauma yet however has a lot to do with the trauma and experiences they’ve encountered as a child. From physical and sexual abuse to verbal/emotional abuse to loss, these are deemed some of the high risk causes of Childhood Trauma. However, a child experience caregivers, guardian or loved ones endure trauma can in fact affect the child’s mental health. Seeing your parents fight all the time (Domestic Abuse), being in a high stressed environments or conditions these things are contributing factors to a child’s mental wellbeing. Childhood trauma has became a major social public-health problem worldwide. Every year, in high-income countries, about 16% of children are experiencing physical abuse and one in ten is neglected or psychologically abused. While in African countries like Nigeria, the stakes are high. There are many sides to Childhood Trauma that no one talks about because we have been conditioned to not express our emotions or communicate our feelings. When a child experiences a traumatic event, it can impair their physical development. The stress can impair the development of their immune and central nervous systems, making it harder to achieve their full potential. On this episode, Sheifunmi and his guest co-host (Owen) share parts of their experience with childhood trauma. Taking on the heavy subject, Sheifunmi shares “I may have spent my 20s going about this healing thing all wrong, I tackled a lot of surface problems, symptoms and unhealthy coping mechanisms instead of the root cause. I am 30 now and I have only just began healing wounds from my childhood”.

Men's Mental Health

Men are more likely to die by suicide in comparison to women. There has been the perpetual doctrine that Men should be strong, you carry the family, you are the provider and the protector, people are looking up to you, you cannot be weak or express emotions, men don’t cry. From parents who don’t know how to express themselves to growing up in society that places unnecessary expectations and stress these are some of the few conditions that makes it difficult for Men to seek help when it comes to their mental health. Men’s Mental Health is more internalized. Men are more than likely to experience conditions such as Substance Abuse, Bipolar Disorder, Borderline Personality Disorder, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Anxiety, Depression, Schizophrenia and Suicide Ideation. Sheifunmi and his guest co-hosts,  Clinical Psychologist - Chris Abojei and Music Enthusiast - Owen Je delve into the subject of Mental Health amongst men. With Shei, Owen and Chris sharing their own personal experience with their mental health and management, they dissect the topic and touch on the issue of toxic masculinity.

Take Mental Health Seriously - Focus On Gen Z

From a millennial’s perspective, do Gen Z make their mental health a priority? For Sheifunmi and his guest co-hosts (GM & Owen) it is a strong YES! The common ground is that Gen Z are more than likely to be self aware, expressive and explore as they exist in this world but for many, these naturally gifted and young disrupters are very well known for setting boundaries and equipped with the basic knowledge and awareness of mental health/wellness. From championing the conversation in the workspace, to about 40% of Gen Z are more than likely to have received mental health care compared to Millennials. While both are raising awareness to this cause, Gen Z’s are still at the forefront of the conversation. However, in this part of this world the numbers and probabilities are very low. For one elite/suburban or city Gen Z that you meet, there are 10 in rural and underserved communities who are completely obvious and uneducated about Mental Health. GM believes Gen Z’s are the drivers of the Mental Health conversation. Sheifunmi thinks there is a polar opposite perspective to Gen Z’s mental health management due to the increasing statistics of substance abuse. Owen commends Gen Z for being vocal and expressive. “I personally, I’m grateful for the Gen Z’s that I know, they’ve taught me a lot about boundaries and self expression by being an example. They’ve championed the conversation, driven the market of self care but it is still a small fraction compared to all the Gen Zs in Nigeria” - Sheifunmi.

Borderline Personality Disorder

Nearly a decade ago if not more, I had a mental health crisis, it was silent and debilitating. Being self aware, I caught on to what my mind and body were going through not to mention that quiet and subtle voice that guides you through the storm was incessant in my mind space that I should go to my community mental health center and address what I was feeling. I showed up at the closest NHS Mental Health Centre and spent hours in a closed room with my psychiatrist at the time. Excruciating hours of answering questions and evaluations being done. Mind you, I already knew what my diagnosis was - Bipolar Disorder. We both knew that. So, what’s with the re-evaluation? I never asked. All that happened after was being put on different cocktails of medication and rigorous therapy treatment plan. This didn’t make any sense at that time until I saw a copy of the psychiatrist assessment and there was this remark: “Bipolar Disorder with traits of BORDERLINE PERSONALITY DISORDER”. Now, the first can be managed with medication but the latter, many therapists don’t even want to deal with clients living with BPD. Bipolar Disorder is a mood disorder which can be treated with medication. However, BPD is a personality disorder which cannot be managed with medication and YOU as the patient must be committed to your wellness through CBT/Talk Therapy which is barely a Hail Mary. Borderline Personality Disorder (also known as Emotional Dysregulation) is a mental health condition that is characterized by unstable moods, behavior and relationships. People living with BPD have an intense fear of abandonment and instability, as well as inappropriate anger, impulsiveness, frequent mood swings that may push others away. BPD patients deeply want to have loving and lasting relationships. While this is achievable, as someone with a lived experience, you may want to get out of your way first and commit to your healing process. On this first episode of season 2, my guest co-host is Dr. Michele Finneran, a Psychotherapist and Author in the United States. We dissect the topic ‘BORDERLINE PERSONALITY DISORDER’. The cause, how it’s diagnosed, associated trauma and triggers, push and pull effect and WHY most therapist won’t take a BPD case. Welcome to SEASON 2 of NO JUDGEMENT! I have missed you!