For the third consecutive year, Brand Spark is supporting HealthTech company Mindsplace at its annual World Mental Health Day Awakening Summit on 10 October.
The edition, themed ‘Let It Out: The Power of Being Heard,’ will take place at the Nigeria Law School in Victoria Island, Lagos, in collaboration with Serenity Sisterhood Initiatives, an NGO that supports women, girls, children, and vulnerable persons through advocacy, education, protection, and sustainable community development.
This year’s theme speaks to something many people quietly experience. They struggle but don’t know who to talk to. Some fear judgment while others worry that speaking up may make them look weak. So they keep going, and sometimes, they break down.
“Let It Out” creates a space for Nigerians to have honest conversations about mental health, emotional wellbeing and the pressures of everyday life. The programme will bring together mental health professionals, business leaders, students, creatives and people of all walks of life. It will feature personal stories, clinical psychology conversations, a lived-experience panel, workplace wellness discussions, dance movement therapy, poetry, a film screening, and interactive activities.
Efe Obiomah, founder of Brand Spark, says that public relations shapes perceptions.
‘By partnering with Mindsplace, Brand Spark hopes to change the perceptions Nigerians have of mental health, as messaging can either reduce or reinforce stigma.
‘The way media portray mental health affects how people see themselves and others. We are working with the media to use the right words in communicating mental health. Campaigns that normalise therapy also encourage more people to seek help,’ she said.
For Eniola Bello, founder and chief visionary officer of Mindsplace, the message behind this year’s summit comes from seeing how many people carry their struggles quietly. She is also calling on government, organisations, communities and individuals to take mental health more seriously and create spaces where people can speak before they reach breaking point.
“Let us stop waiting for people to fall apart before we ask how they are doing. Government must invest in mental health services, organisations must create healthier spaces for their people, families must learn to listen without judgement, and each of us can start by checking on someone and asking, ‘How are you, really?’
“Sometimes that question can open a door that someone has been afraid to open. Sometimes people do not need advice first. They need someone to listen,” Bello says.
One activity at The Awakening Summit, the Rage Release Station, will give participants a guided space to express difficult emotions. An Emotion Painting Wall will offer another way for people to express what they may struggle to say aloud.
The summit will run from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm. Attendance is free for anyone interested in mental health discourse, but registration is compulsory. Register using the link: bit.ly/LIO26
