Why I Train Grandmothers to Treat Depression.
Why I Train Grandmothers to Treat Depression.
Occasionally, there’s a TED talk that brings a tear to my eye, a song to my heart, and an epiphany to my head. This TED talk by Dr. Dixon Chibanda is one of those. There are just 12 psychiatrists in Zimbabwe, a country with 14 million people.
This is not unusual as there are many developing countries in the world that have fewer than one psychiatrist per one million people. At a time when suicide is rampant and someone is taking their lives - somewhere in the world - every 40 seconds, we need to consider how we scale mental health services.
This brilliant talk about creating a “Friendship Bench” of empathetic grandmas all over the world felt like it would strike a chord with some of you. Maybe you want to join the grandma brigade? Hope you enjoy the talk and consider how this simple, exquisite, evidence-based solution might be relevant to address depression where you live.