DO NOT DISCRIMINATE. BE KIND.

[Photo taken from my phone]

Many of us have been through the higher institution, and many more are planning to go. Tell us your field of study, or what you plan to study. Tell us why and also how that particular course can be useful to life and society at large.

This theme for the give learners program hits the nail right on the head.

I am currently a 600 level student of Medicine and Surgery at the University of Ibadan. It is sad, however, that this is my 7th year in school and I even have a set of seniors still above my class. This has been due to the pandemic and the incessant strikes and industrial actions embarked upon by the various unions in this damned country.

Anyways, I do not think the field of Medicine and Surgery needs any special introduction as we must've been hearing about it since we could hear at all, in fact. Any Nigerian kid grew up thinking for a while that Medicine, Law, and Engineering were the only three courses in existence.

Nevertheless, Medicine and Surgery basically deals with the treatment of the many illnesses that plague that human body and mind alike. Of all the specialties that are resident in the very broad field of Medicine, the one that has piqued my interest the most is Psychiatry.

Psychiatry is a specialty that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of mental diseases, mood disorders, and abnormal behaviors. It basically deals with illnesses of the mind as opposed to other specialties that deal with tangible illnesses of the body.

I have always been fascinated by the workings and machinations of the mind. Why people act the way they do in the many situations they may find themselves in. This has been of particular interest to me for as long as I can remember. Though as I look back now, I think studying a course such as Psychology might've been the closest in that regard. Psychiatry is a suitable alternative in the field of medicine.

Considering how the study of Psychiatry can be useful to society, there are surely many benefits. The first, I think, would be the fact that the study of Psychiatry encourages the creation of awareness to society about the existence and scope of mental illnesses. The hope is that with the proper awareness, the stigma and discrimination that people suffering from.mental illnesses have to face. This is largely due to the misconception that anyone that suffers from any mental illness must be a mad person. And that notion is simply not true in the slightest.

The stigma reduction that arises from the increased awareness would also aid in increased presentation of patients with mental illnesses at the hospital. Some people refuse to seek treatment for an illness that clearly ails them because they do not wish to be branded as mad or senseless and shunned from society. And for good reason. But of the stigma reduces, people would feel more comfortable and willing to seek out treatment and stick with it so that they can get better as they should.

Treatment of these mentally ill people has other various benefits starting with the wellbeing of the patient. The stress and burden of said illness on the family members would also cease to exist or in the very least, reduce substantially.

I imagine there are many other benefits to society, but I shall pause here for now.

As I end this write up, I must implore all who read this to not shun or stigmatize those living with mental illnesses. They have done nothing wrong and it is not their fault. Be kind to them. Be kind to everyone. Just, be kind.