Mental therapists flourish in tough times

In Kenya, there has been a sharp increase in demand for mental health services in the post-Covid-19, the Mental Health Taskforce indicates. For those who had mental pressure before the pandemic began, explains Mohamoud Merali, the Head of Counselling and Clinical Psychology at the Aga Khan University Hospital in Nairobi, they have had to experience it even more now. "The challenge with stress is that it can be a silent thing. Repeated stress leads to anxiety and repeated anxiety leads to depression. The line between them is very fine and it’s very easy to slip from stress to anxiety and anxiety to depression," he says.