Journalists urged to take care of own mental health
Journalists cover an event at Kololo in Kampala on October 12, 2018. PHOTO | FILE
What you need to know:
- Some journalists agreed that their mental health is often neglected.
Women of Uganda Network (WOUGNET), a human rights organisation, has advised journalists to take care of their mental health during this lockdown and wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The advise was made during a virtual national legal conference last Friday .
“Journalists, especially women are silently battling issues due to the effects of the pandemic and the lockdown. For such reasons, we thought we needed to organise a conference specifically to have conversations with them, find out how they are coping, brainstorm ways of helping them so that they can be productive in their workplaces,” Ms Sandra Aceng, the WOUGNET programme manager in charge of information sharing and networking, said.
“It is the failure to address some of these issues that prompts some journalists to quit newsrooms suddenly,” she added.
Mr Moses Karis Oteba, a psychologist and well-being lead at DefendDefenders, an NGO, said the pandemic and lockdown affect journalists differently.
“The work of journalists requires them to have a sound mind in order to process things clearly. Besides currently dealing with the toll being brought about by the pandemic, they are also grappling with tight deadlines, being beaten while on duty, unfriendly sources who assault them while seeking for information, law suits and threats, among other issues,” Mr Oteba said.
“Their minds are also being exposed to all sorts of information as they carry out research online for stories. All these can cause a huge mental strain,” he added.
Some journalists agreed that their mental health is often neglected.
Ms Angela Nsimbi, a journalist and mental health activist, recalled a previous experience where she suffered mental strain.
“In 2009, while working in one of the newsrooms, I became depressed. The work stress got to my head and I ended up becoming restless, not getting enough sleep and lost interest in the things I was doing. I was no longer excited about my job and life,” she said
Ms Nsimbi said the depression become severe in 2011 until she opened up to colleagues and friends.
