Privilege, Oppression, and Mental Health: Recognizing Our Pasts Through Our Testimonies
SSOHIS MENTAL HEALTH "The world I inhabit and the world that inhabits me are inseparable parts of the whole that is the 'I' that I am. In this complicated society, mental health is a topic seldom broached. It would be an understatement to suggest that discussions on mental health are off-limits in my culture. We rarely talked about things like depression and anxiety when I was growing up in my traditional Yoruba home on Lagos Island. It wasn't until I sat across the desk from a former professor that I truly grasped what it meant to deal with one's feelings. When I first started having problems with my mental health, it was extremely difficult to convince anyone, including myself, that I needed help. Recognizing mental illness is the first step on a long and winding road that doesn't necessarily lead somewhere. The patriarchal nature of Yoruba society doesn't help. While women are constantly pressured to suppress their true selves for the sake of a societ...