Mental health experts have warned that Nigerians’ culture of “suffering and smiling” may conceal emotional distress and discourage people from seeking help, urging a more culturally sensitive approach to mental healthcare.
The experts spoke at the maiden Nigerian Mental Health Summit organised to commemorate World Mental Health Day on Saturday.
The virtual event had discussions focusing on lived experiences, migration, cultural expectations and the need to make mental health support more responsive to Nigerians’ realities.
A clinical social worker based in Canada, Kehinde Ekpudu, said Nigerians’ emphasis on strength, endurance and resilience could make it difficult for people to recognise when they needed help.
She noted that people experiencing emotional distress often resorted to familiar expressions such as “I’m just tired,” “I’m stressed,” “I cannot come and kill myself,” “I’m thinking too much,” and “It is well,” without necessarily addressing what they were going through internally.
According to her, although such expressions are not inherently harmful, cultural identity, family and faith can provide important emotional support; they can also reinforce expectations that people must remain strong despite their struggles.
“Culture can be a source of resilience, but it can also shape our distress and how that distress is understood and expressed,” Ekpudu said.
She urged mental health professionals to look beyond the words people used to describe their experiences and seek to understand the emotions and circumstances behind them.
“We may say, ‘It is well,’ because our faith encourages us to remain hopeful. But is it really well internally?” she asked.
Ekpudu, who spoke on Nigerian immigrant mental health, identity and the brain, explained that people could appear successful and functional while privately struggling with emotional exhaustion, loneliness and unmet expectations.
She observed that migration could further compound these challenges, as immigrants had to adjust to unfamiliar environments, new social expectations and different professional systems while dealing with the loss of support networks they had at home.
According to her, some Nigerian professionals who relocated abroad had to abandon established careers and start over, while others took multiple jobs to maintain their lifestyles, often at the expense of their mental well-being.
“Sometimes, what looks like resilience from the outside is a nervous system that has become very good at survival. You become so accustomed to hyperarousal and living in survival mode that this becomes your normal state, your baseline,” she said.
The social worker cautioned against assuming that outward success or the ability to fulfil family and professional responsibilities meant that a person was emotionally healthy.
She argued that mental healthcare should go beyond treating symptoms such as anxiety and depression to examining the experiences, relationships and identity struggles that might contribute to them.
Meanwhile, the National Mental Health Programme Coordinator at the Federal Ministry of Health, Dr Tunde Ojo, disclosed that the ministry was working towards large-scale destigmatisation of mental health conditions, while acknowledging that the National Mental Health App had yet to be fully implemented.
Ojo also announced the creation of a dedicated brain health desk under the National Mental Health Programme, following a policy decision made in July during World Brain Health Day.
He said the desk would coordinate brain health-related activities across the country and develop a national brain health development agenda.
According to him, neurological care and neuroscience had previously lacked a clearly defined place at the policy level, making coordination necessary to strengthen the country’s approach to brain health.
“Anything you want to do at the system or country level, if you want to make a difference, requires getting the coordination right,” he said.
Ojo added that the ministry would engage stakeholders to develop a roadmap for brain health in Nigeria.
The convener of the Nigerian Mental Health Summit, Oluyinka Oyeniji, stressed the need for a coordinated national approach to mental healthcare that reflects Nigerians’ diverse experiences and backgrounds.
Oyeniji said efforts were ongoing towards establishing a Mental Health Commission at the federal level, adding that Lagos and Ekiti were the only states that had enacted mental health laws, while the Federal Government’s Nigeria Mental Health Act, 2023, was undergoing necessary amendments.
He acknowledged the contributions of local and international partners to mental health advocacy, research and public enlightenment.
Also speaking, the Executive Director of the Renevlyn Development Initiative, Philip Jakpor, said the summit came at a time when Nigerians were facing several pressures capable of affecting their mental well-being, including property demolitions and difficulties providing for their families.
Jakpor pledged continued collaboration with the Human Rights Foundation to raise awareness of mental health issues and promote public engagement.
He expressed optimism that the inaugural engagement would provide a foundation for sustained discussions and broader public awareness.
The World Health Organisation commemorates World Mental Health Day annually on October 10.
The theme for this year’s observance is “Lived experiences heard: real voices, real change.”