For this post I am going to focus on one of the major depression triggers in Nigeria, which is – difficult life circumstances. If you live in Nigeria, you should not be surprised that many people are at the risk of depression due to continuing life difficulties – unemployment, injustice, insecurity, abuse, poverty, poor support, inability to meet social/cultural/religious expectations etc.

My mother passed on 17 months ago aged 63 years. One day I am going to write about her life and her death, but not today. Today, I write about the overwhelming pain of loss I felt and still feel. Today, I write about this thing called grief.

We all expect to have reached some milestones by certain ages – have educational qualifications, build a career, get married, have children, start a business, own properties, make loads of money, follow passions etc. Like many people, I have spent my twenties and thirties chasing these things. Some I have achieved, others I have not achieved yet.

I told them I will encourage you and tell you not to give up, that good things will come your way too. But, they said they have already told you that and you don’t want to hear it. So I thought, I should tell you something else then, some brutal truths about life that you probably have not been prepared for;