Events like this Total Care Mind and Body Outreach show that targeted, community-led actions deliver tangible, lasting benefits: improved quality of life, delayed cognitive issues, reduced emotional distress, and a stronger foundation for healthy aging in Nigerian communities.

A crucial yet often overlooked aspect of this theme is mental health awareness and support within education. Today's young people face unprecedented pressures: intense academic expectations, social media scrutiny, economic instability, peer challenges, and global uncertainties. These factors contribute to alarming rises in anxiety, depression, and other

The Total Care Mind and Body initiative is a flagship joint program between Cope and Live Mental Health Awareness Foundation and UNTH Foundation. It is designed to deliver free, integrated physical and mental health services to vulnerable populations, with the pilot on 24th January giving special attention to elderly persons (60+ years) and retirees.

The program was facilitated by the Resource persons from  African Services.

Cope and Live Mental Health Awareness Foundation participated in an observational and assessment capacity, with representation by the Plateau State Program Manager.

As State Program Manager, Mr. Selkap will oversee and expand the Foundation’s activities in Plateau State, collaborating closely with the national management team to deliver impactful mental health awareness campaigns, community outreach, support services, and sustainable development projects. His leadership will emphasize measurable outcomes, periodic progress reviews, and alignment with CALMHAF’s broader goals of prioritizing mental well-being and empowering vulnerable communities.

A major focus of the session was the review and discussion of our 2026 Action Plan. This plan reaffirms our core mission to:

• Deliver preventive mental health care

• Raise widespread awareness

• Provide meaningful education

• Offer compassionate support — especially to vulnerable populations

By adopting this proactive, problem-solving approach, we aim to:

Through this collaboration, our planned interventions include:

• Reducing stigma surrounding cancer through open conversations and education

• Raising awareness and providing vital education on prevention, early detection, and treatment options

• Offering comprehensive psychosocial and compassionate support for cancer patients and their families — including free mental health talks, assessments, and counseling sessions.

Teachers wear many hats — they are nurturers, caregivers, motivators, coaches, mentors, and creative minds shaping young futures every single day. Yet, they often face intense scrutiny, judgment, and criticism from parents and society at large.

These pressures can lead to serious mental health struggles, including:

• Aggression

In relationships, work, therapy, or daily life, recognizing the difference between empathy and projection can transform how we connect with others. Empathy bridges gaps and deepens understanding; unchecked projection builds walls and creates distance. Mastering this distinction leads to more authentic, supportive, and meaningful relationships.

Vision impairment significantly increases the risk of mental health challenges. Globally and in regions like Nigeria, blind and partially sighted individuals experience higher rates of depression, anxiety, social isolation, and reduced quality of life compared to sighted peers. Factors include loss of independence, dependency on others, stigma, and barriers to daily activities.

Braille literacy directly counters these risks by promoting autonomy and self-reliance—key protective factors against depression and anxiety. Studies show that proficient Braille users report higher self-esteem, confidence, life satisfaction, and emotional well-being.

Intentional rest is distinct from passive or unproductive downtime. Passive activities, while relaxing on the surface, often keep the brain stimulated through notifications, blue light from screens, or rumination, failing to provide deep recovery. For instance, scrolling social media or zoning out in front of the TV may feel like a break but can increase mental fatigue and prevent the nervous system from fully shifting into the parasympathetic "rest and digest" mode.

Excessive mind-wandering correlates with increased negative emotions, including rumination (repetitive negative thinking about problems or feelings) and worry. These patterns are strongly linked to mental health challenges, such as depression and anxiety.

The benefits of this collaboration extend far beyond the walls of the hospital and will have a transformative impact on Enugu State and the wider region through our joint “Total Care Mind and Body Initiative.” This initiative focuses on holistic support for communities, especially the underserved.

Designed as a joint proactive, problem-solving Initiative, it encourages early preventive steps and help-seeking behaviors, thereby reducing emergencies and medical costs.

Beliefs such as “I’m unlikeable” or “People will reject me” lead to withdrawal from relationships. The resulting loneliness reinforces the original negative belief, creating a self-perpetuating cycle.

Quick summary checklist for parents:

• Talk openly and often

• Keep devices in family areas, especially at night

• Use parental controls + monitoring appropriate to age

• Teach “pause before posting” and “block + report”

• Promise no over-punishment for coming to you

Doing even 3–4 of these steps dramatically reduces risk and harm. Digital violence against children is common, but it is largely preventable with proactive education and reasonable boundaries.

People low in emotional repression tend to cry more easily, and repression is a known risk factor for anxiety, depression, and even physical health issues (high blood pressure, weakened immune response). Those who let the tears come during a film are practicing something therapists desperately try to teach in session: allowing emotion to move through the body instead of stuffing it down. They’re getting free emotional regulation training two hours at a time.

A life without failure is a life without growth, risk, or real joy. The people who seem mentally toughest aren’t the ones who never fall; they’re the ones who stopped believing that falling says anything bad about them.

So fail. Fail soon. Fail often. Fail creatively. Your mental health will thank you for it—because every time you get back up, you’re proving to the deepest part of your brain that you can handle being alive. And that, more than any unbroken winning streak, is what keeps people sane.