Every person experiences feelings of sadness from time to time. However, some people can experience sadness for days, months, and years most times turning into chronic depression.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 5 percent of adults worldwide suffer from depression, and 280 million people suffer from the disorder worldwide.
During the Groove Cafe interview yesterday, clinical psychologist Vivian Olgah Kudda, the Director and Clinical Psychologist at Minders Wellness and Psychological Centre, noted that throughout her career, she continues to be fascinated by how the brain works especially in stress management.
“Mental illness is disabling in a way. However, the human mind has found a way of enabling someone to smile even when they are hurting inside. For me, it has been the survival mechanism of how people manage to carry on daily tasks and socialize even when they are not psychologically okay,” Olgah said.
The certified trauma therapist said society implants the survival mechanism in people and propels them to brush off their emotions so as not to be seen as weak.
“Over the years, I was surprised by how people would manage to keep in all those emotions, but I discovered that people have different coping mechanisms,” she explained.
Ms. Vivian Olgah Kudda also does community psychology and trains at Minders Wellness and Psychological Centre, an organization working closely with the Ministry of Gender and social development responsible for training and maintaining the welfare of migrant workers, especially in the Middle East.
At the organization, she specializes in equipping the migrant laborers with the technological skills needed to “shrive” (survive and thrive) in their new environments.
“The Ministry also recognized the need to help these domestic workers deal with mental stress that comes with living away from home because most of the people we train are traveling for the first time. They are trained in stress management that comes with living in a new culture and country while doing their work,” she said.
Ms. Vivian Olgah Kudda holds a postgraduate degree in Hospital and Health Care Management and Project Planning and Management from the Uganda Management Institute (UMI).
She is a certified trauma therapist and child protection/ safeguarding personnel, a community psychologist,, and a trainer at life mindset changes.
The Groove Cafe with Crystal Newman airs every Weekday from 4-5 pm on RX Radio.
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