The Thursday Tribune Series
Every Thursday, the Asido Foundation shares fresh perspectives, educational insights, and reflections on mental health through a nationally syndicated column in the Nigerian Tribune. Explore our archive of articles that shape conversations and challenge stigma.
Showing 1 - 10 of 225 articles
Strategies to Ensure a Healthy Psychosocial Working Environment
April 30, 2026
Every Sunday evening, Kunle's chest tightens. By 8 PM, the anxiety is in full force with a racing heart, shallow breathing, and a knot in his stomach. He can't sleep. He lies awake dreading Monday morning, replaying his boss's criticisms, anticipating this week's impossible demands and inevitable humiliations. On Monday mornings, he drags himself to the office feeling nauseated. He works in a constant state of hypervigilance, waiting for the next public dressing-down, the next unreasonable deadline, the next reminder that he's replaceable and should be "grateful to even have a job in this economy". He developed high blood pressure at 32, and he is on antidepressants. His relationship is suffering because he's irritable and emotionally unavailable. He fantasizes about quitting but can't afford to because he has family depending on him, bills to pay, and limited job options. Adaeze is a 34-year-old woman who worked at a mid-size company in Lagos. Her boss was a verbally abusive tyrant who fired people on a whim and rehired them when he is in a better mood. Adaeze developed severe anxiety. She couldn't eat breakfast because she'd vomit from stress. Sunday evenings were torture with panic attacks, but she stayed because she earned well and needed to support her family. After three years, she had a complete breakdown and was hospitalised for stress-related illnesses and diagnosed with depression and anxiety. Umar is a Resident Doctor with a verbally abusive Consultant who calls them names and frequently insults even their parents for any mistake. He was on call and had just finished sorting out three cases in the Emergency Room at 9pm. He suddenly realized that he had not eaten at all, as he has been on his feet all day since 7.30am. Suddenly his phone rang and it was his Consultant. ‘Useless human being, why have you not sent in the case report I asked you to prepare this morning during the round’? He thundered. Efforts to explain that it has been a busy call since completing post round duties were shut down with insults and then a threat to give him extra calls if he didn’t submit by midnight. Yes Sir, he mumbled, as he hung up. He suddenly felt overwhelmingly tired and he sat on the steps of the corridor, alone, as hot tears welled up in his eyes.
Read More
Mental Health Challenges of “That Time of the Month” for Women
April 23, 2026
Tola is a 29-year-old banker in Lagos. For most of the month, she is calm, efficient, and well-liked at work. But about a week before her period, everything changes. She becomes intensely irritable. Small things like a delayed email or traffic can trigger disproportionate anger. She snaps at her colleagues, avoids calls from friends, and withdraws from her fiancé. Last month, she almost resigned from her job after a disagreement with her Manager. Three days later, after her period started, she couldn’t understand why she had reacted so strongly. She felt embarrassed and ashamed, apologizing repeatedly to everyone she had hurt. This pattern has repeated itself for years. Tola has been told she is “overreacting,” “too emotional,” or simply being difficult. She has tried to “be stronger,” to pray more, to ignore it, but every month, the same overwhelming emotional storm returns.
Read More
Caregiver Burnout: Protecting Your Mental Health While Caring for Others
April 15, 2026
Aunty Beatrice has been caring for her aged mother with dementia for four years, after they realised that she could no longer live alone. She also works part-time (from home now, after being fired from her office job for too many absences), manages her own household, cares for her teenage children, and somehow finds time to be the family member everyone calls when they need something.
Read More
Menopause and Mental Health: The Transition Nobody Prepares You For
April 9, 2026
Hajia Laraba is 51 years old. For the past two years, she's been crying at random moments, while cooking, and in the middle of work meetings. She forgets words in mid-sentence, names of people she's known for years, and where she placed her phone five minutes ago. She wakes at 3 AM drenched in sweat, heart racing with inexplicable panic. Some days, she's so angry she wants to scream at everyone. Other days she feels empty, like she's disappearing. She has been moody. Her family thinks she’s losing it and might be under spiritual attack by jinns.
Read More
Understanding Bipolar Disorder
April 2, 2026
Femi has started and lost two businesses due to untreated bipolar disorder. During manic episodes, he would start ambitious new ventures, work long hours, make deals without proper vetting, and believe he is destined for greatness. When his depressive episodes start, he would stay in bed for weeks, contemplate suicide, stop picking up calls or responding to messages and eventually lose the business he had started. This has become a recurring cycle for him. His family members assumed he was simply irresponsible, as he seemed to be talking normally and they didn’t see anything amiss other than his ‘bad behaviour and laziness”.
Read More
International Women’s Day: Self-care for a Nigerian Woman
March 19, 2026
Bisi wakes at 4 AM to prepare breakfast for her husband and three children. She gets everyone ready, drops the kids at school, rushes to her office job where she works until 5 PM, picks up the children, supervises homework, cooks dinner, cleans the kitchen, helps her mother-in-law with her medication, responds to family WhatsApp messages asking for money, prays, and collapses into bed at midnight. On weekends, she does market runs, cooks for the week ahead and stores in the deep freezer, does laundry, attends church, visits family, and handles everyone's needs.
Read More
Running a Business and Your Mental Health
March 12, 2026
Ayomide is a fashion designer in Osogbo who has been experiencing erratic NEPA supply. The increase in fuel prices has reduced his profits as he must use the generator to meet customers’ demands. The harsh economy has resulted in fewer people sewing clothes. He has not yet paid the rent of his shop and still owed money for clothing materials he bought on credit. He was recently arrested by the police after he couldn’t deliver a customer’s clothes on time for an event because there was no light and he didn’t have money to fuel the generator. He is extremely frustrated with the situation of business, despite working very hard and being skillful as a tailor. He now has panic attacks every time his phone rings for fear it might be a creditor.
Read More
Not a Trend: Suicide and Self-harm as Critical Health Issues
March 5, 2026
Recently, on social media, there is a trend of bleach products being used for personal harm purposes. People are making fake designs of the product in different flavours for consumption. Many people are even advertising the use of the product for suicide purposes. This trend, rooted in stigma, makes mockery of mental health distress and a dire situation. It is extremely sad that it is happening in the week for Self-Injury/Harm Awareness. Instead of spreading awareness and educating people against self-harm, this trend is unfortunately encouraging through ridiculous skits and antics on social media. The use of chemical substances for self-harm is not new but this trend of using suicide as a prank is new and dangerous.
Read More
Mental Health in a Fragmented World: Global Challenges and Individual Realities
February 26, 2026
Ayomide is a 45-year-old man living in Nigeria who was recently diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The symptoms began when he was kidnapped for two days while travelling in a public transport vehicle. The time he spent in captivity was some of the most devastating hours of his life. He has become hypervigilant and is now scared of public transportation. The anxiety and PTSD has significantly negatively impacted his quality of life and he struggles to interact with strangers.
Read More
The Future of Mental Health in Nigeria: Innovations, Community, Inclusion, and Collaboration
February 19, 2026
According to the World Health Organization, more than a billion people globally live with a mental health condition. Mental disorders make up 10% of the global burden of disease. Mental illness, suicide, and drug abuse continue to increase globally, with a higher level of increase in youthful countries like Nigeria. In Nigeria, over 50 million Nigerians are at risk of developing a mental health condition. Despite this increasing burden of mental illness in Nigeria, only 3% of the total health budget is allocated to mental health, and this amount is often not disbursed. Many people living with mental illness continue to hide, are chained, or face stigmatization due to ignorance and lack of access to mental healthcare.
Read More