"Let’s create a friendly environment where they can easily express themselves, we need to go back to that because if we’re saying 1 out of every 6 Nigerian teenagers is depressed, that is huge; these are our future leaders... So, if a child is already dysfunctional, how are you expecting them to be productive, economically, in society, and relationship-wise?"
Maymunah Yusuf Kadiri is a Nigerian mental health advocate, psychiatrist, and psychotherapist. She advocates for mental health by speaking at events, television shows and as a columnist at the Guardian Newspapers. She produced Little Drops Of Happy in 2017 to create awareness about mental health in Nigeria. She is the founder of Pinnacle Medical Services Limited.
"When you’re hurt and you haven’t healed, you’re likely going to hurt other people. Let us not continue that vicious circle of trauma because trauma is one major ingredient or factor that makes people have a mental illness. So, let us change this narrative and start watching out for our children, building self-esteem, self-worth, and self-confidence in them, and allowing them to express themselves, in an assertive way."
"My interest in psychiatry was sparked by a deep drive to understand the unseen struggles behind the human face. The kind of emotional and psychological pain that often goes unnoticed, especially in clinical settings."
"There is a toxic mix of problems plaguing our society from poor hygiene, inaccessibility of quality health care, corruption, malnutrition, lack of access to safe drinking water, poor health infrastructure, fake drugs, insufficient financial investments, and lack of sufficient health personnel."
"Seeing stigma break right before my eyes, especially in spaces where silence used to reign. Stigma is still widely held towards mental health and people living with mental illnesses, but it’s not as bad as it used to be. The mental conversations are ongoing. People are willing to come out and talk about mental health."
"I loved something about the brain; I liked things relating to the brain; I liked things that were life changing. I also realized I would not be good in surgery not because I didn’t have the expertise, I liked details. I was looking at neurosurgery or neurology... Neurology also has to do with the brain so it was either that or psychiatry for me."
"I’ve worn these hats to create impact on every level where mental health is misunderstood, ignored, or stigmatised... And balancing these roles hasn’t always been very easy, I must tell you. But it has made my advocacy multidimensional. And I don’t just talk about mental health, I humanise it, live it, and storytell it across platforms where it matters the most."