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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

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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.