9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Last year ... 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 was hell. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 (Laughter) 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 It was my first time eating[br]Nigernial [angel loaf]. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 (Laughter) 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Actually, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 in all seriousness, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 I was going through a lot[br]of personal turmoil. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Faced with enormous stress, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 I suffered an anxiety attack. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 On some days I could do no work. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 On other days, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 I just wanted to lay in my bed and cry. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 My doctor asked if I'd like to speak[br]with a mental health professional 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 about my stress and anxiety. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Mental health? 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 I clammed up and violently[br]shook my head in protest. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 I felt a profound sense of a shame. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 I felt the weight of stigma. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 I have a loving, supportive family[br]and incredibly loyal friends, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 yet I could not entertain the idea 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 of speaking to anyone about[br]my feeling of pain. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 I felt suffocated[br]by the rigid architecture 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 of our African masculinity. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 "People have real problems, Sangu. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Get over yourself." 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 The first time I heard mental health, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 I was a boarding school student, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 fresh off the boat from Ghana 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 at hte Peddie School in New Jersey. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 I had just gone through[br]the brutal experience 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 of losing seven loved ones[br]in the same month. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 The school nurse, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 concerned about what I'd gone through -- 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 God bless her soul -- 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 she inquired about my mental health. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 "Is she mental?" I thought. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Does she not know I'm an African man? 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Like when [....] and things fall apart, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 we African men neither process[br]nor express our emotions. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 We deal with our problems -- 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 (Applause) 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 We deal with our problems. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 I called my brother and laughed[br]about [....] people -- 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 white people -- 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and their strange diseases -- 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 depression, ADD and those "weird things." 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Growing up in West Africa, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 when they use the term "mental," 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 what came to mind was a mad man, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 with dirty, dread-locked hair, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 bumbling around half-naked on the streets. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 We all know this man. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Our parents warned us about him. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 "Mommy, mommy, why is he mad?" 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 "Drugs! 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 If you even look at drugs, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 you end up like him." 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 (Laughter) 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Come down with pneumonia, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and your mother will rush you[br]to the nearest hospital 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 for medical treatment. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 But dare to declare depression, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and your local pastor will be[br]driving out demons 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and [...] in your village. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 I called into the World[br]Health Organization. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Mental health is about being able[br]to cope with the normal stresses of life. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 To work productively and fruitfully, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and to be able to make[br]a contribution to your community. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Mental health includes our emotional, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 psychological 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and your social well-being. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Globally, 75 percent[br]of all mental illness cases 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 can be found in low income countries. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Yet most African governments 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 invest less that one percent of their[br]health care budget on mental health. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Even West, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 we have a severe shortage[br]of psychiatrists in Africa. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Nigeria, for example,[br]is estimated to have 200 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 in a country of almost 200 million. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 In all of Africa, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 90 percent of our people[br]lack access to treatment. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 As a result 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 we suffer in solitude, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 silenced by stigma. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 We as Africans often respond[br]to mental health with distance, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 ignorance, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 guilt, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 fear 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and anger. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 In a study conducted by Abolita Florez, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 directly asking what[br]is the cost of mental illness, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 34 percent of Nigerian respondents[br]cited drug misuse. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 19 percent said divine wrath[br]and the will of God. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 (Laughter) 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 12 percent -- 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 witchcraft and spiritual posession. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 But few cited other known[br]causes of mental illness. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Like genetics, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 socio-economic status, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 war, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 conflict, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 or the loss of a loved one. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 The stigmatization against mental illness 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 often results in the ostracizing[br]and demonizing of sufferers. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Photojournalist Robin Hammond[br]has documented some of these abuses. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 In Uganda, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 in Somalia, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and here in Nigeria. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 For me, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the stigma is personal. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 In 2009, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 I received a frantic call[br]in the middle of the night. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 My best friend in the world -- 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 a brilliant, philosophical,[br]charming, hip young man -- 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 was diagnosed with schizophrenia. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 I witnessed some of the friends[br]we'd grown up with recoil. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 I heard the snickers, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 I heard the whispers. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 "Did you hear he has gone mad?" 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 He [....] 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 derogatory, demeaning commentary[br]about his condition -- 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 words we would never say[br]about someone with cancer, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 or someone with malaria. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Somehow when it comes to mental illness, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 our ignorance eviscerates all empathy. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 I stood by his side as his[br]community isolated him, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 but our love never wavered. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Tacitly, I became passionate[br]about mental health. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Inspired by his plight, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 I helped found the Mental Health[br]Special Interest Alumni Group 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 at my college. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 And during my tenure as a resident[br]tutor in graduate school, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 I supported many undergraduates[br]with their mental health challenges. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 I saw African students struggle, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and unable to speak to anyone. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Even with this knowledge, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and with their stories in toe, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 I in turn struggled, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and could not speak to anyone[br]when I faced my own anxiety. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 So deep is our fear of being the mad man. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 All of us -- 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 but we Africans especially -- 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 need to realize the our mental struggles 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 do not detract from our virility, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 nor does our trauma taint our strength. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 We need to see mental health[br]as important as physical health. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 We need to stop suffering in silence. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 We must stop stigmatizing disease, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and traumatizing the afflicted. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Talk to your friends. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Talk to you loved ones. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Talk to health professionals. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Be vulnerable. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Do so with the confidence[br]that you are not alone. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Speak up if you're struggling. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Being honest about how we feel 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 does not make us weak; 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 it makes us human. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 It is time to end the stigma[br]associated with mental illness. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 So the next time your hear "mental," 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 so not just think of the madman. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Think of me. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 (Applause) 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Thank you. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 (Applause)