Mental Distress: Psychologist recommends mentorship

Mental Distress: Psychologist recommends mentorship
By Ummul Idris
Distress
Abuja, Feb. 1, 2019 (NAN) Dr Chibube Afam, a clinical psychologist, has canvassed for mentorship to arrest the rising scourge of mental illness among youths in the country.
Afam made the call while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Abuja.
He said that one of the best ways to address the menace of mental distress among youths was to engage a role model.
According to him, Nigerian youths need a role model to influence their lives positively in curbing the vices associated with unrest and mental distress.
“You know mental distress as it concerns youths are very sensitive, and the need to monitor this stage of their development is key,” he said.
He described the youth as a young adult that is trying to find balance in life, noting that between age 15-24, they will be trying to find their ways in life.
He advised parents to note that at such age they had not left childhood and they were not yet in adulthood; hence, they were at a very special stage and must be mentored.
According to him, at this age, they will be trying to find balance and could be influenced by their peers, families, friends and the society they grow with.
“So these set of people, because of where they fall developmentally, they are prone to becoming distress a little bit more than others.
“Youths are very likely to become mentally distress if they are not well guided from their homes, schools and churches.
According to him, such things like bereavement, lack of economic power, what they watch can easily influence them.
The psychologist stated that because the youth watch a lot of movies and pick from the media and music, they could easily be influenced by those things, causing them not to do well in school.
He said it could lead to distress and lack of sleep, adding that when they tried to please their peers or feel among, they then tend to experiment a lot and even drug that their peer introduce to them and this could lead to distress. (NAN)
UMD/MST
Edited by Muhammad Suleiman Tola