Tom Osborn: A new way to help young people with their mental health | TED

Translator: Alberto Rodríguez Reviewer: Servizo de Normalización Lingüística

Around the world and especially in low-resource countries

Globalmente e, especialmente, en países con poucos recursos,

like my home country of Kenya,

como o meu país natal, Kenya,

mental health problems prevent young people

os problemas mentais impiden que a xente nova

from living independent and successful lives.

teña unha vida autónoma e próspera.

I was born and raised in a small sugarcane farm.

Nacín e crieime nun pequeno cultivo de cana de azucre.

Some of my early memories are those of my younger brother and I

As miñas primeiras lembranzas son co meu irmán pequeno,

walking around and pretending that we owned the sugarcane.

paseando e finxindo que eramos donos do cultivo.

But most of these memories were actually from school.

Pero a maioría dos meus recordos son no colexio.

My parents and especially my mother,

Os meus pais e, sobre todo, a miña nai

made sure that I knew how much they'd sacrificed

aseguráronse de que soubera canto se sacrificaban

for me to have the education

para que tivese unha educación

and the path to success that they did not.

e o éxito que eles non tiveron.

They were very clear that the stakes were too high.

Deixáronme claro que había moito en xogo.

There was no room for disappointment.

Decepcionalos non era unha opción.

There was no room for failure.

O fracaso non era unha opción.

When I was 12,

Cando tiña 12 anos,

I moved to the boarding section of a local primary school.

mudeime ao internado dunha escola primaria local.

Here we will wake up at 4am to a set of math problems

Espertabámonos ás 4 da mañá fronte a exercicios de matemáticas

that we had to solve before breakfast.

que tiñamos que resolver antes de almorzar.

We'd only go to bed, sometimes after 11,

Só nos deitabamos, ás veces pasadas as 11,

if we solved that night's science problems.

se deramos resolto os exercicios de ciencias dese día.

In high school, the pressure was even higher.

No instituto, a presión era aínda maior.

The early-morning to late-night routines

Ás rutinas da mañá e da noite

were now supplemented by Saturday and Sunday classes.

había que sumarlles agora as clases dos sábados e dos domingos.

It was here in high school

Foi aí, no instituto,

where I began to notice the personal,

onde comecei a darme conta do dano, emocional e na conduta,

emotional and behavioral toll that this pressure-cooker system

que este sufocante sistema

had exerted of myself and those around me.

estaba a exercer en min e nos que me rodeaban.

I noticed it, for example,

Noteino, por exemplo, cando, canso de estudar a produción do ácido sulfúrico,

when tired of cramming the production of sulfuric acid,

I stopped taking notes or engaging with chemistry in 10th grade.

deixei de tomar apuntes e de asistir a química.

I noticed it when my friend Onsongo

Noteino cando o meu amigo Onsongo, a súa vida reducida a unha nota,

tired that his life had been reduced to a letter grade,

had enough and quit school.

estalou e abandonou o colexio.

I noticed it when a schoolmate, whom I will call Otieno,

Noteino cando un compañeiro de clase, quen chamarei Otieno, acabou coa súa vida.

took his own life.

But all this time,

Pero, todo ese tempo,

all this time, what came to mind was that this was life.

todo ese tempo, o que pensaba é que así era a vida.

Life was trouble sleeping or sleeping too much.

A vida era durmir de máis ou moi pouco.

Life was little interest or pleasure in doing the things that gave you joy.

A vida era sentir pouco interese ou pracer ao facer cousas que che gustaban.

Life was constantly feeling down,

A vida era estar constantemente triste,

crushing under the weight of the feelings of hopelessness.

esmagado baixo o peso da desesperanza.

That was life.

Así era a vida. Non foi ata hai pouco, uns cinco anos despois do instituto,

It was only recently, some five years after high school,

that I began to realize that what we thought was life

que comecei a ser consciente de que o que eu cría que era

could have, in fact, been mental health problems.

a vida eran, en realidade, problemas de saúde mental.

Was it possible that we were struggling with depression and anxiety

É posíbel que estivésemos lidando con depresión e ansiedade

and just didn't know about it?

e non fósemos conscientes?

That, in fact, was the case.

En efecto, ese era o caso.

Studies now show that almost 50 percent of Kenyan adolescents

Hai estudos que afirman que case o 50 por cento dos adolescente kenyanos

struggle with mental health problems.

sofren de problemas de psicolóxicos.

And in such a youthful country,

E nun país tan novo, onde a metade da poboación ten 19 anos ou menos,

where half the population is 19 years or younger,

youth mental health has now become an urgent public health priority.

a saúde mental da mocidade converteuse nun asunto urxente de sanidade pública.

Over the past few years,

Nos últimos anos, estiven tratando de transformar este problema

I've been working to turn this public health problem

into an opportunity for young people

nunha oportunidade para a xuventude

to reimagine and redefine what mental health care could look like.

de redescubrir e redefinir como enfocar a saúde mental.

We're doing this by tackling the three big issues

Farémolo atallando os tres problemas principais

that prevent young people from getting help.

que lle impiden á xuventude recibir axuda.

One, the lack of mental health experts.

Primeiro, a falta de expertos na materia.

Two, the stigma around mental health.

Segundo, o estigma arredor da saúde mental.

And three, the sad reality that most mental health treatments

E, terceiro, que, por desgraza, gran parte dos tratamentos para a saúde mental

were not built and designed for young people

non están deseñados para mozos nas mesma condicións ca min

who look like me and have my background.

Because we have only two clinicians for every one million Kenyans,

Só temos dous doutores por cada millón de kenyanos,

and two -- yes, only two --

e dous —si, só dous— psiquiatras infantís e adolescentes en todo o país.

child and adolescent psychiatrist in the whole country,

we are expanding mental health care access by training [18- to 22-year-old] Kenyans

Estamos ampliando o acceso aos tratamentos formando rapaces entre os 18 e 22 anos

as lay providers.

para desempeñar este labor.

These young Kenyans are delivering evidence-based care to their peers

Estes rapaces kenyanos dan coidados con eficacia probada ás súas comunidades

through a structured and tiered model

usando un modelo estruturado con varios niveis que asegura que todos

that ensures that all young people who want can get help.

poidan recibir axuda.

Because of a stigma of mental health

Debido ao estigma da saúde mental

that still exists from Kenya's colonial past,

que arrastramos desde o pasado colonial de Kenya,

we are delivering interventions

estamos facendo intervencións sen levar a cabo unha diagnose formal

without a formal diagnosis of mental health,

and our interventions focus on building character strengths,

e as nosas intervencións céntranse en aceirar as fortalezas individuais,

on strengthening individual autonomy

fortalecer a autonomía individual

and on improving overall human functioning and well-being.

e mellorar o funcionamento e o benestar das persoas.

Because our lay providers work within the communities

Como os nosos auxiliares traballan dentro das comunidades das que proveñen,

where they come from,

in the school systems that they themselves went to

nos sistemas educativos aos que asistiron,

and deliver what is truly a for-youth and by-youth mental health care treatment,

son capaces de dar tratamento psicolóxico por e para a xuventude.

we are fixing the divide between mental health treatment

Estamos pechando a división entre o tratamento da saúde mental

and the social and cultural needs of the communities that they serve.

e as necesidades sociais e culturais que precisan as comunidades que atenden.

Since 2018, we have used this youth-based model

Levamos empregando este modelo baseado na mocidade dende o 2018

to bring mental health care across Kenya.

para levar os tratamentos a toda Kenya.

And what we have found is that this model works.

Achamos que era un modelo que funcionaba.

Young people are reporting reductions in depression and anxiety symptoms.

A xente nova nota unha redución nos síntomas de depresión e ansiedade.

They’re reporting improvements in their social relationships

Notan unha mellora nas súas relacións sociais

and in their views about their abilities to change the world.

e na visión sobre a súa capacidade de cambiar o mundo.

And in what will make my mom happy,

E, algo que alegraría á miña nai,

they are also reporting improvements in their academic grades.

tamén hai melloría nas cualificacións académicas.

Mental health is not a Kenyan problem.

A saúde mental non é un problema único de Kenya.

It is not an African problem.

Tampouco un problema único de África.

This is a global problem.

É unha problemática global.

We need big ideas to tackle this problem.

Precisamos pensar en grande para afrontar este problema.

And our case for optimism is that our youth-oriented,

Somos optimistas e cremos que este modelo baseado na xuventude e na comunidade

community-focused model can be a template for the rest of the world.

pode ser un exemplo a seguir para o resto do mundo.

One other early memory from childhood

Outro recordo que teño da miña infancia

is a story that my grandmother, Yunita, told me.

é unha historia que a miña avoa, Yunita, me contou.

A long time ago, before the sugarcane farms,

Hai moito tempo, antes dos cultivos de cana de azucre,

before the grass-thatched huts and the round compounds,

antes das cabanas con teitos de palla e os recintos,

the animals lived happily because there was plenty in the land

os animais vivían placidamente porque a terra era exuberante

and a future to look forward to.

e o futuro era prometedor.

But farming threatened the land,

Pero a agricultura ameazaba a terra

and the future was all of a sudden bleak.

e, de súpeto, o futuro entebreceuse.

And so the lion roared.

O león ruxiu,

But there was no water.

mais non había auga.

And the elephant grunted.

O elefante bramou,

But there was no water.

mais non había auga.

And the cheetah yelped,

O guepardo ouveou,

but there was no water.

mais non había auga.

But when the young antelope asked them to come together

Pero, cando o novo antílope os animou a xuntarse

and build a well, there was water.

e cavar un pozo, había auga.

There was a future.

Había un futuro.

There was hope.

Había esperanza.

This is our young antelope moment.

Agora nós somos ese antílope.

Let us come together and let us build a world

Unámonos e construamos un mundo

where all young people, all over the world can flourish and thrive.

onde toda a xuventude arredor do mundo poida florecer e prosperar.

Thank you.

Grazas.

(Applause)

(Aplausos)