Dancer’s Death Reveals Industry Experiences of Depressiond

The recent death of dancer Mark Sibeso, who took his own life, has led to an outpouring of grief, with most artists speaking out about their own experiences with depression.

First to take to social media to confront the ills of depression is rapper Jericho Gawanab, who revealed his experience of depression, saying he contemplated dying at some point.

“I am still battling with depression, I lived for music, it is my job and it was what put food on the table, now imagine losing your job and now you have to turn to people for help for rent and survival, it eventually gets to you” he stated.

The rapper says God saved him.

He says he took the decision to move to the smaller town of Karibib where he has found solace and confidants.

“Windhoek is the devil’s playground and I wouldn’t go back there, it is where the drugs and everything is. It is tough being a beggar especially when you have been at a position where you were well off before,” he added.

Gawanab says depression drained him and also saw him struggling to deal with rejection from the corporate world and supposed loved ones.

“You might seem happy around people and you try to keep all together during the day but when it gets dark, reality starts kicking in and then you feel like you’re not worth living anymore,” he says.

Upcoming rapper Petrus Matheus, better known as Predator, says he tried to commit suicide last year, after depression took a toll on him.

Matheus says he was hospitalised in Windhoek last year and was treated by a psychiatrist.

“I didn’t even know I was depressed, all I know is that I was feeling lonely, not loved, and worthless and like the whole world is against me and I wanted to eliminate myself, but through my experience I learned that I am not the only one going through the most in life. My family helped through it” he says.

If it was not for his supportive family and friends, Matheus says, he would have probably succeeded in killing himself.

“I would walk into a room looking like the happiest person in the world but I would be the loneliest. You see your peers’ lives going forward but yours remain still in one place; mental illness is real,” he says.

Veteran producer Araffath Muhuure also says he tried to commit suicide on three occasions, but was saved by friends from church.

“I was going through a lot and I tried it three times. I worked with before and went to tarnish my name which started affecting my career, had relationship issues including financial challenges and I honestly didn’t have anyone to talk to. Society had made it seem like when a man opens up or cries, you are a moegoe.”

Ovi-trap king Ngai further described depression as a real state, saying that he went through it too.

“I have experienced it and once I accepted where I was, I got help. No medication, I started therapy and have been growing better each day. Mental health is not a destination, it is a journey,” he says. – unWrap.online

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