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Greetings to all my leaders and welcome to another interesting and interactive section of the week, this is my entry to the LOH context #100, I have only been part of a very few context in the community, but am also very excited to be part of this very week context, I celebrate all the members of this great community who have spent time to make this community an active home for engagement.

Today as my entry to the question of the week in my response to the issue of mental health and how to handle it, my content will be more of the few experiences I have been privilege to encounter, but before then, I want to start by saying that the absolute care for our mental health is non optional, As important as the other two faculty of the soul, (Will and Emotions) the mind is not to be joked with, the intellectual responsibility of man is all centered on the mind, as such when the mind is faulty, the entire system will be useless. No wander the holy book, speaks so loud on how we should guide it.

Guard your heart (mind) with all diligence (Above all else) for out of it comes the issues of life (for it is the sources of life).Proverb 4:23.

How do we deal with our mental health?

There are many ways to handle it but I will be sharing just a few, just for the purpose of this article.

-The need to Love and Value Yourself:

The best you can ever be is the best of you, not another, you are obligated to love and value yourself like no other, since the mind is responsible to every part of your being, you got to give yourself the best of treat ever in history.

-Take absolute responsibility for your body:

When the body is healthy, the mind is relieved of the stress sponsored by unhealthy thought, thereby reducing the of many unhealthy task , that puts the mind under pressure, and as well enhance the efficiency of our mental ability.

-Surround yourself with Good, healthy and intelligent People:

I do believe that what you see and hear is what you finally become in the process of time., the truth is that you will think like they do and see like they also see, this will greatly reduce the task of unhealthy load on the mind.

How can effective support be given to a mentally challenged person:

The truth is that when someone is challenged mentally, the comprehension ability will greatly reduce, as such there will be a high demand for wisdom and understanding, in my experience, I will share a few.

-Carefully Listen to them without Judging:

As I said before you don’t expect their ability to articulately reason to be functional, so you will carefully listen to all the nonsense that will come from them, it may not make sense to you but makes a whole lot of sense to them, and be nice to them in the light of this understanding.

-Give Attention to their needs:

This will need some level of technicality, to be able to easily identify but when you finally do, please as a matter of necessity, you will have to fully concentrate on their need at the moment, when their immediate needs are met, you have helped in reducing the stress on their mind. Also always try to find out from them, who you can possibly call for them,

Who can be contacted for help?:

This in a way may be difficult in some cases due to the location with respect to time, but the truth is that there are lots of professionals within your own community that can be of help, like the community mental health services that collaborate with the mental health centers and teams. Also there are some psychosocial rehabilitation and peer support services, you can get through their services online or better still the center that is close to you at appropriate time.

My Experience with two of them:

I have been privileged to encounter about two of them that were very close to me, My late ground mother and my little cousin, who has gone to be with the lord, about 8 days ago, my experiences with my ground mom, was in a little while, she was advances in age, about a hundred and twenty two years old, as age was actually striking on her, it resulted in her low comprehension ability. She was no longer coordinating, she will ask you questions in the opposite direction, as a young person, it will be annoying but my mother had advices me, never to respond to her the way she acts or speaks. I took advantage of the two point I shared above, listening without judging and also meeting her needs at the moment, every time I did that, she will declare word of prayer with heavy spiritual dept. Today am still enjoying that little act of sacrificial kindness I rendered to her even years after her exit.

The second one was that of my little cousin, of about 16 years old, we left him at home on a good day only to return and meet him the street misbehaving. It was very dramatic but we could not reach out to any professional, so as to be of help, we were left with no option than to deployed many strategies and by God’s grace among the many, some worked but I can’t actually say the very one that helped but the responds was progressive, we continued for about 2 hours to get his attention and calm him, while waiting for the experts to arrive at the scene, while we were still doing our best, a thought came one of us, revealing one of his siblings that he often spend time with, so we sent for her, as she arrived and was crying, he noticed and recognized her, immediate I observed that he was no longer violent., he shouted that we should leave her alone, we did, and slowly he began to work to her direction and trying to stop her from crying, just like a movie, he hugged her and said KUTUAH, meaning don’t cry, but she said if only he will follow us home, that she will not cry again, that was how he followed her to the vehicle just him and the sister.

then it occurred to me that love is the most powerful weapon in the world

He letter recovered but after about 14 months of difficult moments and everything went on smooth, until few days ago.

My heart bleeds as I share this part of my experience, because just 5 days ago, I receive a call that he has also exited the earth realm, though he is no more but he thought me a lesson of love from the heart, which I cannot forget in a hurry. Your mental health care is your responsibility, love it, value and cherish it, A healthy mind will have a wealthy life, you are a product of your decision, thanks for having me @jimmyrosy