Cive Youth to Host Mental Health Open Mic Event in Mzuzu

Mzuzu, Malawi - Cive Youth, a youth-based organization in Mzuzu, will on April 22, 2023, host a Mental Health Open Mic Event at Mzuzu University. The event aims to address mental health issues under the theme "Make Your Health Priority, Overcoming Depression", writes Happy Valirani.

The event will feature several activities, such as poetry and speeches, and Cive Youth has partnered with other organizations such as the Caring Hands Center to ensure the event's success.

Christine Mhone, the founder of the Caring Hands Center, said in an interview with AfricaBrief that partnering with Cive Youth was a wise decision to reach more people with mental health messages.

"For us, as Caring Hands Center, we are coming in with actual mental health. We recently developed an application called Mental Lab App, the idea behind developing this application was to reach out to those people who cannot afford to seek help on Mental Health in private hospitals and also to address the stigma that people in societies have towards people with mental health problems," said Mhone.

The Mental Lab Application is user-friendly and has features that people can use to access mental health services in the comfort of their homes, such as counselling, news, and question tags.

The app also aims to educate people about the myths surrounding mental health issues in Malawi.

In addition, the Caring Hands Center is conducting programs focusing on men's mental health and the boy child to address the increasing cases of suicide in Malawi.

"Last year we did research where we found out that suicide cases have been increasing in this country, and men are the ones mostly committing suicide. We found out this is because men do not open up about what they are going through mentally, as compared to women, to avoid being taken as awkward in society if they open up. So on this event, we are also going to have the sessions to do with men's mental health and boy child," said Mhone.

The Caring Hands Center calls on all students at Mzuzu University to attend the event and learn ways to overcome depression through the Mental Lab Application.

This event serves as a reminder that mental health is just as important as physical health, and it's essential to seek help when needed.