Dr Olusola Oluwanuga, a Consultant Psychiatrist, has advised parents to spend more time with their children to avoid the risk of depression which may lead to suicide.
Oluwanuga, who is the Head of Psychiatry in National Hospital, Abuja, gave the advice in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Abuja.
She said depression is a serious medical illness that negatively affects peoples’ feelings, thinking and actions.
She added that the condition could result to sadness or loss of interest in activities once enjoyed.
She explained that depression could also lead to emotional and physical problems, which could
decrease one’s ability to function well.
Oluwanuga, therefore, advised parents to take good care of their children, as a preventive measure against depression.
She cited exposure to social media as possible contributory factor to depression, stressing that “the upbringing of children matters a lot, parents must cultivate the habit of making their children to feel free to discuss everything with them at all times.
“Some children lack social skills to communicate their problems, hence they resort to social media to get solutions, which may affect them.”
The medical expert, therefore, advised schools to introduce social skills training.
She said social skills training is a type of behavioural therapy used to improve skills in people with mental disorders.
She added that it may be used by teachers or therapists to help those with anxiety disorders.
Oluwanuga also advised schools to introduce youth mentorship and creation of recreational parks for sit outs.
In a separate interview with NAN, Mrs Zainab Mohammed, a working class mother, said children easily fall into depression if they dont find answers to their problems.
She emphasised the need for parents to spend quality time with their children to understand how they feel and what they went so they could find ways to handle issues raised.
Mohammed said “spending quality time provides comfortable avenue for parents
to discuss anything, without the children having any fear of being reprimanded.”
Suicide cases, which is the act of intentionally causing one’s own death, have increased recently in the country.
The act is usually caused by mental issues and hopelessness, which can be tackled if parents pay proper attention to children’s wellbeing.
On May 4, a 22-year old lady, Kenile Nwauzor, reportedly committed suicide by consuming sniper, an insecticide, leaving a note that she was troubled by protracted disagreement with her boyfriend.
Around the same period, Uzaka Ebeweri, a 300-level medical student of Niger Delta University in Bayelsa, drowned in a river for failing in examination and was asked to withdraw from the course.
There was also the case of Chukwuemeka Akacha, a final year English student of University of Nigeria, Nsuka and 17-year-old Amos Ibrahim in Jos, Plateau.
Both of them reportedly took their own lives for different reasons. (NAN)