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There's no shame in taking care of your mental health

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Sangu Delle |

TEDLagos Ideas Search

• February 2017

When stress got to be too much for TED Fellow Sangu Delle, he had to confront his own deep prejudice: that men shouldn't take care of their mental health. In a personal talk, Delle shares how he learned to handle anxiety in a society that's uncomfortable with emotions. As he says: "Being honest about how we feel doesn't make us weak -- it makes us human."

When stress got to be too much for TED Fellow Sangu Delle, he had to confront his own deep prejudice: that men shouldn't take care of their mental health. In a personal talk, Delle shares how he learned to handle anxiety in a society that's uncomfortable with emotions. As he says: "Being honest about how we feel doesn't make us weak -- it makes us human."

This talk was presented at an official TED conference. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

About the speaker

Sangu Delle

See speaker profile

Sangu Delle is an entrepreneur and clean water activist. A TED Fellow who hails from Ghana, he sees incredible potential in the African economy.

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Articles on mental illness in Africa

NYT
PBS
The Guardian
Open Democracy

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Initiatives to support mental illness (International and in Africa)

http://apps.who.int/gb/ebwha/pdffiles/WHA66/A66R8-en.pdf
http://www.rand.org/blog/2015/03/mental-healthcare-in-sub-saharan-africa-challenges.html
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24234601
http://www.robinhammond.co.uk/condemned-mental-health-in-african-countries-in-crisis/
http://www.prime.uct.ac.za
https://www.nami.org/Find-Support/Diverse-Communities/African-Americans
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1489826/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2327237/
http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/labcoat-life/tacklingmentalillnessinafrica
https://in2mentalhealth.com/2011/06/23/50-mental-health-ngosuser-organizations-around-the-world/

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Descriptions of mental health illnesses

Depression
PTSD

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Info for family members/caregivers of people with mental illness

https://www.nami.org/Find-Support/Family-Members-and-Caregivers
https://psychcentral.com/lib/15-ways-to-support-a-loved-one-with-serious-mental-illness/
http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/improving-care.aspx
http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/serious-mental-illness.aspx

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Worried you might suffer from mental illness?

http://www.africamentalhealthfoundation.org/
https://patient.info/health/mental-health-1311
http://psych.ucsf.edu/topics
https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families
https://www.nami.org/Find-Support/Living-with-a-Mental-Health-Condition/Understanding-Your-Diagnosis
https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/what-is-mental-illness

This talk was presented at an official TED conference. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.