Ending Stress, Suicide, Anxiety, Depression – Drug Addiction Initiative 2020 (ESSADDAI ‘220)

Event Description:

The aim is to reach out to people, communities, policy makers, NGOs, academic institutions, religious and society organizations. To create awareness about the brain, its health and the role of neuroscience to humanity. To achieve this aim, we have adopted Imo State in Nigeria as the program location.
Neuroscience outreach is currently needed than ever in my country. Unfortunately, we don’t see this awareness programs and outreach as often required in a country that have about two hundred (200) million people. These hindrances are due to lack of some basic needs like; policies for grants and budge at the Government level, poor orientation and perception of neuroscience.
African people don’t accept they can suffer from mental health disorders. A notion identified in our communities to be associated with; lack of awareness, poor orientation and ignorance of it. There is a recent rise in number of young people committing suicide particularly from the southern part of Nigeria. Same region have in the last three years reported a constant rise in the number of young people involving in drugs and opoid abuse, which prompted the Nigerian Government to ban the sale of drugs such as codeine and tramadol. Africans believe and attribute mental health disorders to spiritual attack thereby leaving the affected people un-diagnosed, untreated, mismanaged and stigmatized. These often lead to suicide, because; Depression, Anxiety, Stress etc.