As a concerned individual, working closely among the Ethiopian/Eritrean communities, I just want to create awareness in this area.

Many people get disturbed mentally and emotionally during this cold season. This condition gets worse in those who have underlying mental/emotional illness such as depression, bipolar, schizophrenia and other similar illnesses. It is a taboo to talk about these illnesses among people, especially in the habesha community. Because of that, many people are scared to seek help and treatment and some people are not aware of their situations because of the illness and their families and friends believe that it is the devil playing tricks on them and they pray and fast endless and effortlessly.

Sadly enough, many Christians believe that mental and emotional illnesses are 100% related to demons and Satan. So, they only seek spiritual help and those people they go to believe the same thing and they try to rebuke the devil away from them.

In the middle of this “tag of war,” some people lose their lives and some grievous incidents happen among families and even outside families.

If you live in the DC area, I am sure you have heard what happened recently. And it is not only in DC but also in many cities, sad incidents are happening right now as we speak related to mental/emotional illnesses.

So, I am just making this short video to make everybody aware of this fact.

My brothers and sisters, we live in broken and fallen world and we live in a sin-stricken body, susceptible to any kinds of sickness, physical, mental and emotional. When we need help, it is okay to seek one. If we have to take medication, it is okay to take for a short or long time. Taking care of our mental, spiritual and emotional health is also spiritual, taking care of our body, the temple of the LORD.

When people come to us seeking prayers and advice and if we notice something is not right with them, advise them to seek medical help in addition to the spiritual help they get from you. Assure them that you will continue praying for them as they seek medical help. Tell them that they are physical as they are spiritual beings and they sometimes need medical help too.

Please my friends, let’s be aware of this and help one another. ///