Mary Wambui, 28, has been battling depression for the past ten years.

Growing up as an only child in the 1990s, she recalls having a happy life surrounded by the warmth of dotting parents who always assured her of their love and support.

But this perfect childhood came to an abrupt end after a fatal car crash killed her parents.

Mary learned about this while in school at a time when she was busy preparing to sit for the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examination.

“My whole life came crumbling down. I cried until there were no tears. And a sense of deep sadness engulfed me. I felt like dying too.”

Even though life seems normal now as Mary enjoys a well paying job in a career that she is passionate about, the deep void left by the ordeal is still etched in her psyche.

“Life has never been the same. After they left, I felt abandoned and lonely. I always felt sad and low. I still do at times. But now I have learned to cope with the situation,” she says.

A year after their demise, she was diagnosed with clinical depression and has been managing the condition with medication since then.

Mary represents the thousands of Kenyans suffering from some form of mental illness – whether knowingly or unknowingly.

Government statistics indicate that one in every four Kenyans suffers from a mental health disorder at some point in their lifetime.

Ironically, only one out of every 100 cases will be detected and treated.

At a recent conference dubbed “Traumatic Stress: A threat to Health, Piece and Development in Africa”, experts noted that mental health challenges are increasingly on the rise in Kenya though they receive less attention.

Dr Gladys Mwiti, chair of the Kenya Psychological Association (KPA), said that traumatic events such as death of loved ones, loss of employment, sexual abuse or war scars can cause emotional and physiological problems for many people.

“And if this source of grief is not identified and addressed in time, it leads to anxiety which can then escalate to depression,” Dr Mwiti said.

Some people get over traumatic events by themselves; others benefit from counselling therapy while some require medication for better outcomes.

Due to associated costs, appropriate medications to manage various mental health conditions are often out of reach for most Kenyans.

Also, most people who cannot afford psychologists or other mental health experts usually end up suffering in silence.

It is due to such challenges that health experts are continuously seeking to identify various cost effective interventions that can contribute to a reduction in mental illnesses.

A new study published in the current BMC Medicine journal offers evidence to prove that diet can play a key role in increasing or decreasing people’s chances of succumbing to mental illness.

The study conducted in Spain found that three types of diet plans already associated with physical health benefits (Mediterranean, Pro-vegetarian and Alternative Healthy Eating Index-2010) also offer protection against depression.

These dietary patterns put more emphasis on the consumption of sea food (like fish), vegetables (sources of minerals and vitamins), nuts (sources of omega-3 fatty acids) and fruits.

The large study titled A longitudinal Analysis of Diet Quality Scores and the Risk of Incident Depression in the SUN Project found that the association between healthy foods and good mental health seems to be consistent across countries, cultures and populations. Also, protection against depression was greatest among those with moderate adherence than those with low adherence to the healthy diet plans.

This was the first study that sought to identify the link between common healthy diet plans and mental health.

“We wanted to understand what role nutrition plays in mental health, as we believe certain dietary patterns could protect our minds. These diets are all associated with physical health benefits and now we find that they could have a positive effect on our mental health,” said Dr Almudena Sanchez-Villegas, lead author, in a Press statement. She is a scientist at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria in Spain.

Aside from food, family units can also be exploited to provide cost-effective mechanisms for forestalling depression.

LOVE, TRUST AND OPENNESS

Susan Njoroge, a marriage and family therapist, told the Business Daily that strong families that have cultivated love, trust or openness often offer a protective support system for their members.

“This cushions members from succumbing to depression after traumatic experiences,” she said.

“The family can immediately spot and help address causes of abnormal behaviour in any member before the problem escalates.”

She calls on Kenyans to be aware of the symptoms of depression to facilitate timely diagnosis and resolution of mental problems.

Some of the warning signs include prolonged sadness, hopelessness, moodiness, tiredness, concentration problems, memory lapses, work absenteeism, loss of interest in friends or previous favourite activities, weight gain or loss, thoughts of self harm or suicidal tendencies and unexplained pains and aches.

Depression is a real illness that affects the brain. However, many people often use the word to explain sadness or low moods, which are normal reactions to life’s struggles, setbacks and disappointments.

But depression is much more than the sadness. It is defined as a pervasive and persistent sense of despair that affected people cannot simply will away no matter how hard they try.

Even though scientists agree that depression is a brain disorder, they are yet to determine its exact cause.

Factors that contribute to its onset include genetic characteristics, hormonal changes, medical illnesses, substance abuse, grief and stress.

Each of these factors can cause changes in the brain’s chemistry leading to depression symptoms.

“It’s high time we advocated for effective health policies and budgets to tackle this challenge in Kenya,” said Dr Mwiti.

This article was first published in the Business Daily.