5 Common Depression Triggers amongst Kenyans

Depression, a mood disorder that causes a persistent feeling of sadness and loss of interest interfering with one’s daily functioning and is claiming a significant number of Kenyan lives.

The World Health Organization (WHO) ranked Kenya at position six in the list of the most depressed countries in Africa. Kenyans have had to grapple with different challenges presented by technology development among other factors.

Related Article 800,000 People Are Committing Suicide Every Year Due to Depression

There are common factors that have contributed to Kenya ranking high as a depressed country; we list a number of them.

1. Debt Stress

Kenyan’s are in debt left, right and center. The country itself is on debt and takes up to 2.1 billion shillings in a day to sustain its operations. Kenya’s public debt currently stands at 5.4 trillion shillings with analysts estimating that it is likely to hit 6.2 trillion shillings beyond the end of 2019.

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The citizens seem to have developed a similar appetite in taking up loans they cannot afford to service according to the 2019 Central Bank of Kenya and Financial Sector Deepening Trust Fin Access Household Survey released on 3^rd April 2019.

The survey revealed that over 50 percent of Kenyans were struggling to service their loans while most Kenyans in the employment sector are receiving half the salaries they are supposed to so as to service loans.

The saddest affair of the loan take-up is when the survey report reveals that only 6 percent of all who take up loans spend them in production where they can re-service themselves. 18 percent of Kenyans have defaulted on loans which have led to debt stress while a majority of those fall into depression.

The influx of quick money lenders does not help the situation as most Kenyans have ended up blacklisted by the Credit and Reference Bureau (CRB). Mobile loan apps enable one to easily access loans without much verification.

2. Gambling

Gambling is an addictive habit that has hit Kenyans irrespective of gender, tribe or age. The negative aspect of gambling is its addictive nature where one keeps on going even when the lights are clearly red.

Kenya has gambling addicts who will gamble their school fees, medical fees, rent and money meant for other basics while slowly drifting into depression upon each loss.

The media is not saving the situation as it continues to flood gambling adverts for their audience which is mostly comprised of the youth leading to 76 percent of Kenyan youth are involved in gambling in one way or another.

Sadly, 56 percent of Kenyan Gamblers come from poor backgrounds and gamble with the hope of changing their fortunes and with each loss, they quietly drift into depression.

Kenya has over 17 major registered betting companies that have hundreds of thousands of Kenyans subscribers whose hope is to win millions to change their fortunes overnight.

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3. Unemployment

In 2017, the World Bank had estimated the unemployment rate in Kenya to be at 39.1 percent, the highest in the whole of the East African Region.

Well, in 2019, Kenya’s unemployment rate has hit 43.5 percent according to an official from the National Employment Authority (NEA).

These are more than just numbers; they are people who continue to tarmac seeking employment. Being a jobseeker in Kenya can not only be very frustrating but is also expensive considering all the paperwork required, transport and still, it’s no assurance that one will get the job.

Rejection by one prospective employer to the other can easily put one down where one is likely to drift into depression without knowing considering that there still are bills to be paid.

Related Article Kenya’s Unemployment Rate Hits 43.5 Percent

4. Lifestyle

Lifestyle is bound to affect every aspect of life and as they say, garbage in garbage out. What one eats, drinks, listens to, and literally one’s general environment.

An environment where one feels bullied, oppressed or exploited is not healthy and can easily crash one’s mental stability leading to depression. To ensure a healthy mind and body, one has to make a point of feeding on a balanced diet and avoid intoxication.

5. Relationships

Relations whether in the family as siblings or in the marriages as partners need to be balanced to avoid cases of suicide like have been witnessed in recent days.

Children have been reported to have committed suicide over issues one would consider trivial such as Television remotes. It is important to ensure that children are counseled and guided from an early age especially in the wake of the internet which avails content that may not necessarily be healthy for children.

The internet has brought with it platforms that has subscribers seeking approval from total strangers and, sadly, children are getting exposed to this despite cases of numerous suicide cases due to cyberbullying.

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Content available online for children should also be carefully inspected by parents before being handed to children to watch as some of it is intentionally created to destroy children emotionally.

Video clips will play for example ‘baa baa black sheep’ song and somewhere into the clip bring a video of ‘how to cut your wrist’ which is a way of committing suicide. The intent of formulating such content is not clear but can only be viewed as evil and malicious. It is hence important for parents to watch the content fully before exposing children.

Take time out in quiet serene places where you can feed your soul, do yoga, dance, go to the gym and release all the negative vibes, go for a swim if you know how to, just take a break and take care of you.

When all these are not helping, ask for help from loved ones and specialists, don’t shy away, depression is an illness and nothing to be ashamed of.