Nollywood Producer Speaks On Addiction, Urge Colleagues To See Therapist

Nollywood Producer, Mr Joseph Umoibom urged actors and all other celebrities who are struggling with addiction to see a therapist.
Umoibom in an interview said that educating people on the need to seek the services of a therapist would help reduce deaths associated with stigmatisation.
He also blamed the increased rate of suicide among young people on ignorance as well as stigma associated with seeking help from therapists.
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Umoibom added that stigma from members of the public had also made it impossible for people to seek the help of therapists, as seen in developed societies.
According to him, it is imperative to educate people on the need to speak with a therapist as well as seek their services when the need arises.
He also said that owning up to a person’s addiction problems as well as seeking help from specialists, would reduce the rate of deaths from suicide, among others.
The producer noted that Nigerians did not really accept their health issues sometimes and more so tend to stigmatise people, who owned up to their own challenges.
“If you are under pressure, there are places you can go to because there are people you can talk to get help.
“Some Nigerians are not good at going to see psychiatrists because once people hear you are seeing a specialist they think the person is mad.
“But that is not the case as we all need help at some point in our lives, so I think it’s a conversation that should be given attention.”
He said that the country had health specialists and therapists but stressed that stigma had posed the barrier for people to brace up courage in seeking their services.
“We have specialists here in the society but you know patronage is not high because it is like a stigma when they hear that you are seeing a psychiatrist that will send a wrong signal.
“You know some people’s mentality, when they hear you are seeing a drug therapist or trying to get rid of an addiction, they will tag the person a drug addict.
“Everybody is at some point addicted to one thing or the other, so we need to unmask the barrier and stop the stigma, then people will start coming out for help.
“It is just like the cases of rape, a lot of people do not come out to say they were raped because of the stigma.
Umoibom, however, noted that with proper enlightenment, people would accept their challenges as well as seek help without bias.
He also stated that if education on stigmatisation was championed by all and sundry, a lot of people would get help.
Umoibom also advocated for reorientation on issues of seeking help from therapists, saying it would encourage patronage.