Taking mental health awareness to the pub

Angela Sibanda, Showbiz Correspondent

UMAHLEKISA Comedy club in partnership with the House of Arts Association, Yellow World, and other sponsors have partnered to bring mental health discussion in clubs where people try to escape their predicaments over an ice-cold drink.

Unlike the usual mental health campaigns that most people find boring and shun away from attending, the Laughter Therapy event that is set to be held tomorrow at Pub Lagondola will be an open mic session with comic performances from local comedians and musicians.To bring more seriousness to the issues of mental health, there will be two notable guest speakers who are experts and have experience in dealing with people suffering from mental challenges, drug abuse, and other related matters.

The speakers will be Romio Matshazi at Active Youth Zimbabwe, a drug prevention specialist, and Kuda Kunze who is a counselor at the Women Association of Survivors.

Performances will feature Ntando Van Moyo, Zwe Hlabangana, Major Prodi, Balaclava, Strange, and Dj Deck Star amongst others.

In an interview, Umahlekisa Comedy club director Ntando Van Moyo said the organisers of this particular event had deliberately picked the venue with the hope that mixing entertainment and serious mental health talk will change someone’s life.

“Our aim is to try and address issues such as drug abuse which has been on the rise lately as people try to deal with depression and other mental issues. The choice of a bar for the event is actually deliberate because this is where most people come and discuss their problems without any fear.

“Most people who are found in such events and venues are probably trying to deal with stress. So going to where they are and bringing professionals will make them feel comfortable instead of being in a counseling room where they may feel otherwise. Because the truth is people do not like going to institutions for therapy and all, it makes them feel like they are at their worst in life, so we are hoping to bring such discussions in such spaces that may help in addressing mental health issues,” he said.

Communications Officer for Yellow World, Michelle Mulingo also emphasized that the idea for this initiative was to make discussions around mental health comfortable and suitable for any environment.

“The open mic sessions which are called laughter therapy are a way to create conversations on mental health in a way that is not too serious but touches on mental health issues.

“Our expected outcome is to make mental health discussions an easy topic to discuss in any environment. We expect to provide a rare and unique opportunity for young people to speak up about their mental health,” she said.