Esther Oluku
As part of its contributions to curb the rising cases of depression and mental health-related challenges in the country, members of Tee-high Inspires converged at the female section of a prison in Lagos to sensitise inmates on the therapeutic power of mental and emotional pain.
The Founder of Tee-high Inspires and author of ‘Pain is a Gift’, Mr. Tosin Imhogiemhe, who led the group, disclosed to THISDAY that the project was part of the rehabilitation tour the group is currently engaged in. He stated that following the current suicide trends in the country and the positive reviews his book has garnered in tackling related cases, he had taken it as a mission to contribute to the society’s mental wellness.
“With the ongoing repression in the land with statistics revealing that someone commits suicide every 40 seconds and the Federal Ministry of Health stating that over 30 per cent of Nigerians are suffering from mental health-related illness including depression.
“I started a rehabilitation tour donating copies of the book to prisons, hospitals, schools and people going through pain of any kind and that is the reason my team and I are here today to donate copies of the book to the female prison.”
The group while visiting the female section of Kirikiri Prison in Lagos donated 50 copies of the book, ‘Pain is a Gift’, and other mind-changing books along with drinks and victuals to the inmates.
“One of the worse things to take away from a man is his freedom. It is a painful thing to be confined to a particular environment,” he said.
“When a body is injured, one eats food and get healed. When one’s mind is injured, they begin to think of suicide. How do you feed the mind? The mind is fed with books. Hence, we hope the book would help improve their mental health,” he added.
Imhogiemhe who spoke to the inmates on the need for hope amidst the seemingly hopeless situation, promised to revisit the prison to have another session with the inmates to which the inmates replied, “we would see you out there”.
