Stigma of Postpartum Depression [Kenya]

The stigma surrounding mental health refers to the negative attitudes, the beliefs, and the stereotypes that people hold on mental issues.

We'll highlight a few key ones.

There's number one, the misunderstanding so people don't have the accurate information about mental health conditions leading to just miscommunication and needs.

Ensure you have the right information. The other one is negative stereo stereotyping. Most people associate mental health with people who are violent, unstable, so anyone who feels like , they need to have their mental state checked, they feel some type of way.

The silenting effect where because of all the information out there, people fear to be judged or being a stereotype. They will keep quiet. They won't say anything about their state.

Self-stigma, where you, the person who's affected, don't want to share because people might judge you and see you in a different view.

Barriers to treatment where you take too long before you go to seek help. The more you wait, the worse it becomes. As soon as you notice, you better go to hospital. And old.

It's only mild and we can do something about it than waiting until when it's very, very severe.

Impact on your relationship. You're feeling people will view differently, so you better just keep quiet. Don't your partner thinking you're crazy , or your friends.

Just keep quiet and that's not how you should be. People in your circle should be actually be able to support you in all levels of life.

Isolation.

Sometimes, you'll find a mom not even picking up, not wanting to talk to anyone.
That's also a key one when it comes to stigma, because you're stigmatizing yourself.

You feel like I don't deserve to talk to anyone or do anything.

Employment discrimination. You don't want your employer or your colleagues knowing you're not okay.

How media portrays mental health issues.

I would urge the media to change on how they portray it so that people can at least know it's okay to not be okay and you can get help.

And the other one is the culture, our culture, the beliefs and practices we have. Some of them don't code on you to be not okay.  

We need to change that expectations from our society.

Content created in collaboration with MumsbyKare

Narrated by Naomi Wangare of MumsbyKare

Need to get help for Postpartum Depression click this Link